The Government expects the slight uptick in January exports to help in closing the trade gap, which rose due to the increase in oil and gold imports.
“I hope with exports growing marginally in January, it should help us narrow the trade gap at the close of the fiscal,’’ Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on the sidelines of the Nasscom summit.
In January, outward shipments rose 0.8 per cent to $25.58 billion, the first time in eight months, and imports rose 6.12 per cent to $45.5 billion, widening the trade deficit to $20 billion.
Gold and oil imports were a matter of concern, the Minister said, adding that a balanced approach is needed for gold import duty.
“Without getting into the specifics, I would say that in today’s time what is expected from governments, nations and leaders is to bring down the existing barriers and not to allow coming up of the new barriers of protectionism, which will be counter-productive for the global economy. They deepen the recession and delay the recovery,” he said.
“We hope that in the last quarter we will be able to reduce the gap,” he added.