Demand for exports slowly picking up: Sitharaman

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while expressing her optimism on the exports sector, said on Tuesday that change is happening gradually and the demand is slowly picking up. The minister said that exports are decreasing in terms of value due to factors such as currency devaluation in several parts of the globe with some African countries not accepting payment in dollars.

“I think the turnaround is slowly happening in exports. There is definitely a change, I think demand is slowly picking up,” Sitharaman told reporters on the outlook for exports.

Exports fell by 6.74 percent to $20.5 billion, a continuous decline for 17th straight month in April, due to a sharp drop in exports of petroleum and engineering products amidst slow global demand. On the question of finalisation of a date for resuming negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, Sitharaman said the EU is yet to provide a date.

The Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) negotiations have been on hold since May 2013 as both the sides are yet to bridge gaps on  critical issues such as data security status for the information technology sector.

The talks on the proposed BTIA negotiations which commenced in June 2007 have witnessed several hurdles as both sides have differences on some major issues such as intellectual property rights, liberal visa regime and duty reduction for automobile and spirits.