Exports rose for the first time in 18 months on the back of an uptick in shipments of chemicals, plastics, engineering products and electronics. Latest data released by the commerce department revealed that exports went up to 1.3 per cent to $22.5 billion in June, the first increase since December 2014, as a recovery in commodity prices resulted into a rise in non-oil shipments from the country. Among the major items in the export basket, textiles and gems and jewellery were among those still witnessing a decline.
There was also a contraction in trade deficit to a little over $8 billion in June from nearly $11 billion a year ago due to a 7 per cent fall in imports. The import decline was led by a 38.5 per cent fall in gold shipments along with a lower value of crude oil and coal consignments. While the global trade expansion slowed down with the fall in metal and petroleum prices, Indian exports decreased at a faster pace in 2015, but trend of an improvement has been visible for the past few months.
