India missed its export target in the last financial year even as the trade deficit for 2013-14 shrank to a three-year low of USD 138.59 billion.
In March, exports declined 3.15 percent to post a drop for the second month in a row, while the trade deficit at USD 10.5 billion was the highest in five months, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
“Slowdown in manufacturing, liquidity crunch, currency appreciation, coupled with depreciating currency of few of our trading partners, softening of metal and commodity prices and uncertainty in few regions of the world are the prime reasons for the slowdown,” Federation of India Export Organisations President Rafeeque Ahmed said.
Exports in 2013-14 grew about 4 percent to USD 312.35 billion, while imports dipped 8.11 percent to USD 450.94 billion.
Merchandise exports fell short of the target of USD 325 billion set by the government and were higher than USD 300.4 billion in 2012-13.
A drop in gold and silver imports helped to shrink the trade gap. Overseas purchases of the precious metals dropped 40 percent to USD 33.46 billion.
The trade deficit in 2012-13 stood at USD 190.33 billion. The gap in the last financial year was the lowest since USD 104.4 billion in 2010-11.
In March, exports contracted to USD 29.57 billion and imports fell 2.11 percent to USD 40 billion from a year earlier.
Oil imports in March increased 17.7 percent to USD 15.78 billion. In 2013-14, oil imports grew 2.2 percent to USD 167.62 billion.
On a monthly basis, the trade deficit in March was the widest since October 2013, when it was USD 10.56 billion.
The Confederation of Indian Industry said China also witnessed a slump in exports and this could be an indicator of a looming slowdown in global demand.