India's exports rise

India's exports rise

NEW DELHI (AFP): India's exports rose to US$26.2 billion in
fiscal 1994-95 from $22.1 billion the previous year but imports
also grew, Commerce Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said
yesterday.

He told a news conference here that the fourth year of the
free-market reforms begun by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao
had seen an unprecedented rise in exports, spurred by sharp gains
in output.

"Our export performance is excellent," he said of the 18.3
percent rise in the financial year which ended on March 31. The
minister declined to indicate the export target for the 1995-96
financial year to be set in June.

Imports rose from $23.2 billion in fiscal 1993-94 to $28.2
billion during the last financial year, Chidambaram said. "(The
trade deficit) is not at all worrisome and within the manageable
limit," he said.