Export target to be met: Nath

The commerce ministry hopes to meet the $160 billion export target despite viewing the appreciating rupee as a deterrent in meeting the 2007-08 export target. “The rupee appreciation has impacted exports (till June). The government is seized of the matter,” the commerce and industry minister, Mr Kamal Nath, today said when asked about the dipping export growth over the last few months.

Mr Nath said the government was looking at several measures to ensure that the decline in export growth was arrested, including a new package of incentives for exporters.

With Rupee appreciating consistently against the Dollar, India’s first quarter export growth in the current fiscal decelerated to 7 per cent in rupee terms and in June, export growth was less than one per cent. In dollar terms, the export growth during April-June 2007 was 18 per cent against the trend rate of over 20 per cent witnessed in the recent past.