New Delhi, Aug 16 (KNN) India's exports registered a marginal growth of 2.25 per cent, while trade deficit narrowed to a four-month low of $13.43 billion, according to Government data released.

Commenting on this, President of Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO), Sharad Kumar Saraf said that growth in exports shows resilience of the Indian exporting community even during such tough times and sluggishness in the global economy.

He is of the view that the reflection of sluggish global demand and uncertainties emanating from tariff war are clearly visible in the slowdown in exports across the globe.

He added that depreciation of Chinese Yuan will not only help China to reduce the impact of higher tariffs imposed by US but will also make Chinese exports more competitive in a third country as well aggravating our problem.

Only 17 out of 30 major product groups were in positive territory during July, 2019 including few plantation and agri sector, marine products, iron ore, ceramic products & glassware, drugs & pharma, organic & inorganic chemicals, electronic goods, man-made yarn/fabs/made-ups etc, RMG of all textiles, carpet and jute manufacturing including floor covering.

Major product category which contribute to the country's exports basket were in the negative territory such as the petroleum, plastic & linoleum, cotton yarn/fabs/made-ups, handloom products etc., engineering goods, gems & jewellery, leather & leather products besides some of the agri sector of exports also showed de-growth during the month, he added.

He stated “On the import front, data shows de-growth of well of 10 percent, which has been the highest in recent months due to major reduction in imports of petroleum products, gold and pearls, precious & semi-precious stones.”

Saraf said that domestic issues including access to credit, cost of credit especially for merchant exporters, interest equalization support to all agri exports, benefits on sales to foreign tourists and quick refund of GST should be seriously looked into. And last but not the least, WTO complaint schemes but addressing cost disabilities of our economy be deliberated and drafted so as to replace some export promotion instruments to further give a boost to growth in exports.

Responding on trade data, Chairman of Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India, Ravi Sehgal said “Global head winds and domestic constraints continue to impair India's exports, as is evident from subdued expansion of 2.25 per cent in July, but the shipments in the engineering sector have slipped into negative.”

This is a cause for concern, especially for the highly employment-oriented and MSMEs driven engineering exports which have de-grown by 1.69 per cent in July, 2019. There is an urgent need for an effective intervention and relief from the government and RBI for exporters, he added.