Exports contract 5.45% in June

Hit by slowdown in the Western markets, India's export growth declined 5.45 per cent in June for the second month in a row, to $25 billion.

Besides, reflecting slowdown in the domestic economy, imports too dipped sharply by 13.46 per cent to $35.37 billion, from $40.8 billion in June 2011, resulting in a narrower trade deficit of $10.3 billion for the month.

The decline in the country's shipments comes amid India's economic growth slipping to 9-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12, and subdued industrial output in the first two months of the current fiscal.

"The contraction in global demand and deceleration in manufacturing are primary reason for decline in exports," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Rafeeque Ahmed said.

According to the data released by the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday, exports during the April-June quarter of 2012-13 fiscal dipped by 1.7 per cent to $75.2 billion, from $76.5 billion in the same period last fiscal.

Commerce Secretary S R Rao has said the markets in the euro zone, the US, China and Japan are still not showing healthy growth and these are signs of global recession.

Imports during the first quarter of this fiscal dipped by 6.10 per cent to $115.25 billion, from $122.74 billion in the April-June period of last fiscal.

Trade deficit during the quarter stood at $40 billion.

Experts expressed relief over narrowing trade deficit.

"Trade deficit has come down. We expect it to be under control in the coming months," international trade expert with Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said.