Foreign Trade

ARTICLE

India’s Foreign Trade: 2009-10 (April)

India’s Foreign Trade 2009-10 (April)*

Based on the data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), this article reviews India’s merchandise trade for April 2009 and commodity-wise details for 2008-09 (April-February).

Highlights

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India’s merchandise exports during April 2009 at US$ 10.7 billion recorded a sharp decline of 33.2 per cent as against an increase of 46.8 per cent registered in April 2008. This is the seventh successive month that exports have shown decline since October 2008. Imports during April 2009 at US$ 15.7 billion showed a substantial decline of 36.6 per cent as against a growth of 39.7 per cent in April 2008, due to decline in both oil and non-oil imports. Petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) imports during April 2009 at US$ 3.6 billion recorded a sharp decline of 58.5 per cent, as against an increase of 59.3 per cent in April 2008, mainly due to substantial fall in international crude oil prices over the year. The average price of Indian basket of crude oil during April 2009 stood at US$ 50.1 per barrel, which was lower by 52.6 per cent than US$ 105.8 per barrel during April 2008. Non-POL imports during April 2009 at US$ 12.1 billion showed a decline of 24.6 per cent as against an increase of 30.9 per cent a year ago, reflecting slowdown in domestic economic activity.

RBI Monthly Bulletin July 2009

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* Prepared in the Division of International Trade,

Department of Economic Analysis and Policy. The previous issue of the article was published in RBI Bulletin, June 2009.

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India’s Foreign Trade: 2009-10 (April)

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Trade deficit during April 2009 stood at US$ 5.0 billion, which was lower by US$ 3.7 billion (42.8 per cent) than US$ 8.7 billion in April 2008, due to larger decline in oil imports.

India’s Merchandise Trade during 2009-10 (April)

Exports

India’s merchandise exports during April 2009 at...