Exports fell 1.1% in Dec on slowdown

India’s exports contracted for the third successive month plunging by 1.1 pc in December as policy makers grope for options to sustain growth amid global recession.

India’s exports contracted for the third successive month plunging by 1.1 per cent in December as policy makers grope for options to sustain growth amid the worst slowdown in the world economy in the last 80 years.

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Exports for the month of December stood at $12.69 billion, latest trade data released on Monday showed. It had declined by 12.1 per cent and 9.9 per cent in October and November, respectively.

A sharp fall in prices of crude oil ensured that trade deficit narrowed to $7.57 billion in December compared with $10.07 billion in November.

Exports during April to December were up 17.1 percent at $132 billion as compared to the previous year.

In recent months the government has taken a slew of fiscal measures, including sharp cuts in excise duties and increased plan spending, to help the economy tide over the ripple of a recession in the world’s developed countries.

But those sops are set to push up the central government’s fiscal deficit to a worrisome 7.9 to 8 percent of the GDP.