India's trade deficit at $17.43 billion exports and imports fall 8%; demand for services remains consistent

India may be showing resilience to global economic headwinds to grow at a better rate than developed countries, but recession has hit the demand for Indian exports.

For the month of February, India's exports have gone down by 8 per cent as it stands at $33.88 billion, along with a similar dip in imports which hit $51.31 billion.

Slow manufacturing activity reflected in trade

The dip in exports has also come shortly after a dip in India's manufacturing activity with the Purchase Manager's index going from 55.4 to 55.3 in February according to S&P Global.

According to the new data, the trade deficit, indicating the difference by which imports surpass exports, now stands at $17.43 billion.

Despite the fall for February, exports went up by 7.55 per cent and imports jumped 18.82 per cent in the 11 months of FY23 so far.

Positive signs for service exports

Thanks to the demand for Indian IT solutions in global markets among others, the country's services exports surpassed imports again, triggering a surge in services trade surplus.

Although merchandise exports and imports had dipped in January before the recent slide, service exports provide a positive outlook despite headwinds.

India's commerce minister Piyush Goyal has also forecast a $750 billion mark for India's exports in the current fiscal year.