New Delhi, Sept 15 (KNN) With increase in exports of goods consecutively for four months in a row, some of the sectors of exports especially from MSMEs have come into positive territory including gems & jewellery, leather & leather products, handicrafts but others such as plantaions, marine products, textiles, jute manufacturing are still in negative territory, said exporters body FIEO.

Reacting to August, 2018 trade data released by Ministry of Commerce, Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO), President, Ganesh Kumar gupta said “consecutively for fourth month in a row exports have shown a higher double-digit growth of 19.21 percent.”

However, the rate of growth during the month has shown an upward trend as compared to previous month with an increase of about 5 percent but rising trade deficit will still remain a matter of concern for the entire economy, he added.

Reiterating his concern for rising trade deficit, primarily on account of swelling of crude imports bill due to rising global oil prices and higher gold import, which has further added pressure on Indian Rupee, Gupta said “though the Rupee depreciation has given some edge to Indian exports as Rupee is one of the worst performing currency in Asia in the current fiscal, yet its impact has varied from one sector to the other.”

Commenting over the growth trends, Gupta said that the main reason behind the impressive growth shown by gems and jewellery exports have been the increased import of gold and pearls, precious & semi-precious stones.

Despite impressive growth, FIEO pointed that some of the small and micro sectors of exports are still reeling under pressure because of the liquidity crunch as banks and financial institutions have continuously been tightening their lending norms and ITC refund for exports still poses a challenge, said Gupta.

He added that significant contribution in the growth was made by engineering, petroleum, gems & jewellery, organic & inorganic chemicals, drugs & pharmaceuticals, electronic goods and plastic & linoleum sectors of exports, as they were not only in positive but has also helped the exports sector to continue on its higher double-digit growth trajectory in these difficult times.

Only 17 out of 30 major product groups were in positive territory during August, 2018, Gupta pointed.