The Commerce Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, expects merchandise exports to grow at 20 per cent in the current financial year to around $360 billion.
Speaking to reporters after the Board of Trade meeting on Friday, Mr Sharma said some of the suggestions of BOT will reflect in the supplementary annual foreign trade policy to be announced on June 5.
The Board of Trade, an advisory body to the Commerce Ministry consisting of key industry officials and various export promotion bodies, discussed the current export scenario and the impact of free fall in rupee against the dollar. The exporters urged the Government provide interest subvention to make their products competitive in the global market.
Mr Sharma said he was in favour of a differential credit rate for exporters through interest subvention to labour intensive export sectors to help them sustain growth and retain markets as demand from markets like the European Union and the US slows down.
The Commerce Ministry is in talks with the Finance Ministry to decide on the quantum and tenure of the interest subvention, likely to be announced in the Foreign Trade Policy.