The geopolitical tensions caused by the still continuing Russia-Ukraine war has been impacting the global economy for quite some time now. Our exports suffered as well, with India's outbound shipments declining 3.1 percent to $437 billion in 2023-24, and now with tensions between Israel and Iran escalating, experts have pointed out that goods exports during the first quarter of 2024-25 may suffer again due to low global demand.

An exporters' association has cautioned that further escalation of the current situation could have serious implication on world trade, adding that the impact has already been evident to some extent with some exporters reporting fall in demand of engineering goods that are going to the UAE and then to Iran. Jewellery exports may suffer as well, and in the background of this, exporters urge the government to take some urgent measures on the liquidity front.

The Centre is not sitting idle, however. According to a recent media report, it is already examining the export credit landscape and looking for ways and means to enhance India’s export competitiveness in these difficult times. Best practices from other countries are being studied so that cost of credit can be brought down and at the same access to financial resources can be improved for exporters. Sounds encouraging.

The services exports sector, which jumped 11.4 percent to $345 billion in 2023, is bucking this demand slowdown, and according to a latest report prepared by Goldman Sachs, the country's services exports are set to reach $800 billion by 2030, which, in turn, will make our external sector resilient to supply-side shock. This sounds good, and if at the same time, the government provides adequate support to the merchandise exporters, today's difficulties will definitely turn into tomorrow's strength.