Trade deficit for current fiscal will fall: Sharma

Top Stories

»	49% Indian startups now from tier 2, 3 cities: Jitendra Singh
»	'India ranks 3rd in global startup ecosystem & number of unicorns'
»	Tripura exported over 9K tonnes of pineapples in 2 years
»	CPI inflation eases to 6.71% in July, IIP falls to 12.3%
»	Rupee depreciates 12 paise to close at 79.64 against US dollar

SME Times News Bureau | 11 Sep, 2013
India's trade deficit for the current fiscal year ending March 2014 would be lower than the previous year, Commerce & industry minister Anand Sharma said on Tuesday.

Trade deficit in August was the lowest since $10.3 billion in March as gold imports declined from $2.2 billion July to $650 million in August, Sharma said at a press conference in New Delhi.

"The fall in gold imports is not an aberration. It is going down consistently and I expect the trend to continue," he added. However, crude petroleum imports rose nearly 18% to $151 billion in August as the rise in prices pushed up the bill.

The minister also indicated that the government may approach the Supreme Court to resolve the impasse on iron ore mining ban in some states which is also having an impact on the country's current account deficit.

"Last 2 years iron ore exports were not there and that has affected us. Iron ore exports have gone down by almost 60 per cent. This is something which we are taking up. We are keen that India starts export of iron ore again, which will earn precious foreign exchange," Sharma said.

Commenting on August export figures showing a robust 13 percent growth, commerce secretary S R Rao said, "All sectors, with a significant share in the export basket, have shown positive growth, barring jewellery. Our concern was engineering, which has returned to positive territory."