India Exports In July Reached Levels Seen A Year Ago, Piyush Goyal Says

India's exports in July 2020 reached levels seen a year ago, showing signs of significant improvement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

India's trade data for the previous month will be declared by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry around mid-August.

"Our exports have almost reached last year's July level, with nearly 90% of our export of July 2019 having come back," Goyal said. “And, in fact, if we were to remove the oil-related exports, where we are largely a small value adder, we are 95% plus on the revival of our exports.”

According to the union minister, the country "today is in a mood" to not only bring back economic activity but also become self-reliant, and improve the quality and pricing of products.

India's exports fell for the fourth straight month in June as shipments of key segments, like petroleum and textiles, declined but the country's trade turned surplus for the first time in 18 years as imports dropped by a steeper 47.59%. Exports in value terms declined by 12.41% to $21.91 billion in June on weak global demand due to COVID-19.

After falling for a record 60.28% in April, the rate of contraction of the country's total merchandise shipments slowed down to 36.7% in May and 12.441% in June.