Delhi: India’s exports have declined for the 3rd consecutive month. India’s exports fell 8.8 percent to $33.88 billion last month. Export value decreased by 8.8 percent in February this year from 37.15 billion dollars in February last year.

The country’s imports also fell during the month leading to further moderation in the trade deficit. India’s merchandise imports stood at $51.31 billion in February 2023, down 8.21 percent from $55.90 billion recorded in the same month last year, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Trade deficit narrowed to $17.43 billion in February from $17.75 billion in January. The merchandise trade deficit narrowed to an 18-month low in February 2023, driven by a fall in non-oil and non-gold imports, experts said. Encouragingly, there was continued improvement in non-oil exports, and the pace of year-on-year contraction also slowed in February 2023 compared to the previous month.

Gold imports in current account deficit declined by 44.92 percent to $2.63 billion in February 2023 compared to $4.78 billion in February 2022. Overall, merchandise exports exceeded $400 billion. First 11 months of current financial year. India’s total exports rose to $405.94 billion in the April-February period of the 2022-23 financial year.

This is an increase of 7.55 percent compared to the corresponding period of last financial year. The value of engineering goods exported in February rose 9.68 percent year-on-year to $8.58 billion in February. In the first 11 months of the current financial year, exports of engineering goods have seen a downward trend and recorded negative growth in seven months.

‘The collapse of two US banks and negative growth in some European markets could dampen market sentiment and further affect demand, making 2023 a tough year for engineering goods manufacturers.’ Merchandise imports for April-February 2022-23 rose to $653.47 billion from $549.96 billion recorded in the same period last year. Higher imports led to a sharp improvement in the trade deficit.

The country’s trade deficit widened to $247.52 billion in the first 11 months of the current financial year, compared to $172.53 billion recorded in the same period last fiscal. In April-February 2022-23, India’s overall exports (merchandise and services combined) are estimated to show a positive growth of 16.18 per cent over the same period last year.

“As India’s domestic demand remains stable amid a global slowdown, overall imports are estimated to show a growth of 19.93 per cent in April-February 2022-23 over the same period last year,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.