"Obviously, services are growing considerably quicker, but growth in both (merchandise and services exports) is positive. We will probably end the year with USD 760 billion in exports, if not more," Goyal told reporters.
The country's products and services exports hit an all-time high of USD 422 billion and USD 254 billion, respectively, in 2021-22, bringing total shipments to USD 676 billion.
Exports plummeted 8.82 percent year on year in February, while imports fell 8.21 percent, the largest reduction in more than two years. Analysts have highlighted concerns in recent months about declining exports as a result of recessionary fears and sluggish global demand.
Exports fell 8.8 percent to USD 33.88 billion in February 2023, compared to USD 37.15 billion in the same month the previous year. Imports fell for the third month in a row in February, totaling USD 51.31 billion, an 8.21% decrease from USD 55.9 billion the previous year.
"Slowing core exports and imports point to a softening of global and domestic demand," said Madhavi Arora, analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. Arora, on the other hand, reduced her current account deficit prediction for the fiscal year ending March to 2.5% of GDP from 2.6% previously, citing strong service exports in recent months.
Sanjay Budhia, Chairman of the CII National Committee on EXIM and MD of the PATTON Group, commented on the data, saying that while India's exports slightly fell in February due to the volatile global scenario, it is encouraging to note that merchandise exports rose in the April-February period despite an adverse business environment.
The CII and the Indian industry have complete faith in the government's measures to improve the trading climate and induce an increase in overall Indian exports," he said. According to A Sakthivel, President of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), they predict 2022-23 exports to be USD 770-780 billion, an increase of more than USD 100 billion over the aggregate export of USD 672 billion recorded in 2021-22, or a 15%-16% increase.
