Brno (Czech Republic): Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday expressed hope that India's exports will rebound by October as steps taken by EU and the US are likely to yield results.
India's exports in July contracted 14.8 per cent, the steepest fall in three years, to USD 22.4 billion, mainly due to the demand slowdown in the US and Europe.
Stating that July figures were of concern to the government, Sharma said: "We were expecting a downturn but not that drop. I hope we will improve and by Autumn, the October numbers should start looking good and thereafter we will only move upwards in positive territory," Sharma told reporters after inaugurating India Show here.
The five-day India Show is being jointly organised by by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India.
When asked if India would be able to meet the export target of USD 360 billion in 2012-13 fiscal year, he said "I am not getting into that because I cannot make that forecast today. We have to see how other economies perform".
He, however, added that "we hope that sustained efforts made by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission would yield some positive results. The situation is not as bad as it was threatening to be few months ago".
On the US - a major export destination for India - Sharma said the American economy is "firmly in positive territory .... that would help (India export)".