2021 would see exports reach $290 billion: FIEO

The Federation of Indian Exports Organisations (FIEO) has said that the country’s exports may reach USD 290 billion by the end of this fiscal as the outbound shipments were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic during the first half of the year.

Elaborating on the same, FIEO president Sharad Kumar Saraf said that 2021 would bring a ray of hope and optimism for the exporting community.

“We are confident that a V- shaped recovery will be witnessed in world trade and we will recover much more from what we lost in 2020. Since the first and second quarter have been pretty bad, we may end the financial year 2020-21 with exports of around USD 290 billion,” Saraf said in a statement.

However, looking into the good order booking position for food including processed food, pharma, medical and diagnostic products, technical textiles, chemical, plastics, electronics and networking products, “we should endeavour to take exports to USD 350 billion in 2021-22,” he added.

Saraf suggested that the government should focus on sectors where major imports are happening and boost traditional sectors that are important for exports as well as employment.

During April-November 2020-21, exports fell by 17.8 per cent to USD 173.66 billlion whereas the country’s exports dipped by 4.78 per cent to USD 314.31 billion in 2019-20.