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Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
July goods exports up 7.2%; trade gap hits 8-month high
Synopsis India's goods exports saw a 7.2% increase in July, reaching $37.24 billion after two months of decline. However, a surge in imports, driven by oil and gold, led to a significant trade deficit of $27.35 billion, the highest in eight months. AP New Delhi: India's goods exports rose 7.2% year-on-year in July to $37.24 billion, after declining for two consecutive months. However, a sharper rise in imports pushed the trade deficit to an eight-month high of $27.35 previous high trade deficit was recorded in November 2024, when the gap stood at $31.77 billion. Driven by oil and gold imports, inbound shipments rose 8.6% in July to $64.59 billion from a year earlier, data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed on imports rose to $15.5 billion in July from $13.7 billion in June, while gold imports increased to $3.9 billion from $1.8 billion the previous month. "Despite an uncertain global policy environment, India's merchandise and services exports in July and April-July FY26 have grown substantially-higher than global growth. Exports have done very well," said Sunil Barthwal, commerce drivers of merchandise export growth included engineering goods, electronics, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. During April-July FY26, goods exports rose 3.07% to $149.2 billion, while imports increased 5.36% to $244.01 billion. The US and UAE were the top export destinations during this period. Among sectors, electronics saw significant growth in both exports and imports. Officials said exports to the US and China have picked up in absolute terms, with electronics exports to China increasing in the first four months of the fiscal. Additionally, rejections of Indian exports have decreased in FY25 compared to FY24, including in the month of Support Officials noted that, despite ongoing global uncertainty-including the US Section 232 investigations-India is focusing on a clear, four-pillar export strategy: improving export competitiveness, diversifying markets, reducing dependence on a few countries, and strengthening domestic resilience for exporters. The commerce and industry ministry is prioritizing 50 countries that account for over 90% of India's exports. It has also identified 15 products for import substitution and targeted 28 new export markets. "This strategy is working, though it's challenging due to different standards and testing requirements. We will accelerate this activity," an official Export Promotion Mission is also in the works as part of the broader export strategy. "The mission is under inter-ministerial consultation and will be announced soon," another official said, adding that it will have two components: trade finance support and market access. China Rare Earths Issue India is engaging with Chinese authorities regarding restrictions on rare earth magnet exports. A senior official confirmed that Indian companies have received visas to visit China as part of ongoing efforts to ensure the supply chain remains April, China imposed restrictions requiring special export licenses for seven rare earth elements and related magnets. "Efforts are ongoing. The Chinese embassy has issued visas to our companies, and they are in touch with Chinese authorities. Both sides are working to ensure the supply chain is not disrupted," the official automobile industry has also urged the government to expedite approvals from Chinese authorities for importing rare earth magnets, which are essential in various applications, including passenger vehicles.
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Business Standard
04-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Vietnam scraps two-child policy as aging threatens economic growth
Vietnam has abolished its long-standing two-child limit on Tuesday to try and reverse declining birth rates and ease the pressures of an aging population. AP New Delhi Vietnam has abolished its long-standing two-child limit on Tuesday to try and reverse declining birth rates and ease the pressures of an aging population. The National Assembly passed amendments scrapping rules that limit families to having one or two children, state media Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday. Vietnamese families are having fewer children than ever before. The birth rate in 2021 was 2.11 children per woman, just over the replacement rate required for a population to avoid shrinking over the long term. Since then, the birth rate has steadily declined: to 2.01 in 2022, 1.96 in 2023 and 1.91 in 2024. Vietnam is not the only Asian country with low fertility. But, unlike Japan, South Korea or Singapore, it is still a developing economy. Nguyen Thu Linh, 37, a marketing manager in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, said that she and her husband decided to have only one child because they wanted to ensure that they could give their six-year-old son the best education and upbringing that they could afford. "Sometimes, I think about having another child so that my son can have a sibling, but there's so much financial and time pressure if you have another child." Vietnam introduced rules blocking families from having more than two children in 1988, with the idea that women would spend less time on childcare and more time working. Vietnam's "golden population" period when working age people outnumber those who depend on them began in 2007 and is expected to last until 2039. The number of people who can work is likely to peak in 2042 and, by 2054, the population may start shrinking. All of this could make it harder to grow the economy, since there will be fewer workers while the cost of supporting the needs of the elderly grows. Birth rates in Vietnam are not falling evenly. In Ho Chi Minh City the country's biggest city and economic hub the fertility rate in 2024 was just 1.39 children per woman, much lower than the national average. At the same time, nearly 12 per cent of the city's population was over 60, putting pressure on welfare services. To help, local officials started offering about USD 120 to women who have two children before turning 35 last December. Vietnam is also dealing with an unbalanced gender ratio, partly due to long-standing preferences for sons. Doctors are not allowed to tell parents the baby's sex before birth, and sex-selective abortions are banned. On Tuesday, the health ministry proposed tripling the fine for choosing a baby's sex before birth to USD 3,800, state media reported. China imposed a one-child policy in 1979 amid worries about overpopulation. But as the country faces growing concerns about the long-term economic and societal challenges of an aging population, it has been slowly easing the policy to allow a second child and then a third child in 2021, but with little success at boosting birthrates. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
