The country's exports registered a 13.8 per cent year-on-year decline in September, government said in data released on Tuesday, announcing the 12th consecutive month of a contraction resulting from the crippling financial meltdown in the West that led to a recession.
However, with
revival of the global economy, there has been a steady improvement from the month of May, which saw the steepest decline in export of 39 per cent.
According to official foreign trade data, exports in September were valued at $13.6 billion, against $15.78 billion during the same month in the previous year.
Economists said that exports are likely to pick up in the third quarter of the current fiscal due to the recovery in the US and European markets.
“We can expect it (exports) to become positive by January though it would not be the level of 2007, which may still take some time,” D K Joshi, principal economist at credit rating firm Crisil told Hindustan Times.
Imports in the same month declined 31.3 per cent, mainly on account of a significant drop in crude oil prices.
India’s imports in September, 2009 was estimated at $ 21.3 billion, down from $31.13 billion in the same month last year.