Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Trade winds: On falling Indian exports

Trade winds: On falling Indian exports

The worst effects of faltering (लड़खड़ाना) Western economies are yet to fully hit Indian exports

December 2022 marked the steepest (तीव्र ढलानवाला) fall in two years for India’s goods exports, with products worth $34.5 billion shipped out — 12.2% lower than a year ago. This was the second time in three months that shipments dropped year-on-year and top Commerce Ministry officials sought to calm nerves by citing the global headwinds (विपरीत परिस्थितियों) that were posing (Present or constitute (a problem, danger, or difficulty)) challenges for Indian merchandise (व्यापार). These include the clouds of recession blowing through Europe and the U.S., the COVID-19 situation in China and a reversion towards protectionism in some markets. To be clear, a high base effect also played a role in exaggerating (बढ़ाकर कहना) the year-on-year export dip in Decemberf. December 2021 had clocked the second highest exports (worth $39.3 billion) in 2021-22, when India’s goods shipments crossed a record $422 billion. The world’s trade dynamics have been altered (बदलना) since then, as the momentum swung from a strong post-pandemic pent-up rebound to a stuttering (हकलाना) growth trajectory amid soaring inflation and geopolitical (भू-राजनैतिक) muddling, with the Ukraine-Russia conflict (संघर्ष, झगड़ा) counting as only one of the many shocks to the global economy through 2022.

Amid (के बीच) these tumultuous (उथल-पुथल, अंशातिप्रिय) times, a month-on-month reading of export trends is perhaps a better way to gauge the situation. For now, December’s export numbers, even if lifted by the last batches of pre-holiday festive shipments reaching their destined shores, hold up well on this front vis-à-vis October and November’s initial trade estimates. The other silver lining is that imports also contracted 3.5% in December, the first such instance (उदाहरण) since November 2020, although they remained flat sequentially (क्रमिक रूप से) at around $58.2 billion. For the first nine months of 2022-23, India’s goods exports are still 9.1% higher than a year ago, slightly lower than the 11.1% rise recorded till November 2022. Some agencies expect the global recession (मंदी) to hit demand for Indian goods far harder in the current quarter so much so that the full year could still end up with a shrinkage in exports. In December itself, new export orders grew at the slowest pace in five months as firms struggled in key export markets, as per the S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index. The latest data on U.S. retail sales signal the sharpest slump in 12 months even as industrial output has tanked, signalling that demand for finished goods or inputs is set to slacken (To make or become less active) further in India’s top export destination. With China reopening, competition is expected to intensify even as demand shrinks. Some recent government moves such as fixing glitches (गड़बड़) in a duty remission scheme for exports and lifting curbs on iron ore shipments have helped, but more macro- and swifter micro-policy actions are warranted to keep the export engine chugging  (To make a short explosive sound).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Falter (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - लड़खड़ाना
English Meaning - To hesitate in speech, action, or intent.

2.Steep (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - तीव्र ढलानवाला
English Meaning - Having an almost vertical slope.

3.Headwind (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - विपरीत परिस्थितियों
English Meaning - Wind in the opposite direction of the course of movement.

4.Merchandise (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - व्यापार
English Meaning - The commodities and goods that are bought and sold.

5.Exaggerate (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - बढ़ाकर कहना
English Meaning - Represent (something) as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.

6.Alter (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - बदलना
English Meaning - Change or cause to change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way.

7.Stutter (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - हकलाना
English Meaning - To speak in such a way that there are interruptions or spasms or prolongation of syllables.

8.Geopolitical (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - भू-राजनैतिक
English Meaning - Relating to geopolitics.

9.Conflict (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - संघर्ष, झगड़ा
English Meaning - A fight or battle

10.Amid (Preposition)

Hindi Meaning - के बीच
English Meaning - In the middle of

11.Tumultuous (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - उथल-पुथल, अंशातिप्रिय
English Meaning - Marked by disturbance and uproar

12.Instance (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - उदाहरण
English Meaning - A case or occurrence of anything.

13.Sequentially (Adverb)

Hindi Meaning - क्रमिक रूप से
English Meaning - By forming or following a logical order or sequence.

14.Recession (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - मंदी
English Meaning - A period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.

15.Glitch (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - गड़बड़
English Meaning - A sudden, usually temporary malfunction or fault of the equipment.

16.Pose (Verb)

English Meaning - Present or constitute (a problem, danger, or difficulty).

17.Slacken (Verb)

English Meaning - To make or become less active

18.Chug (Verb)

English Meaning - To make a short explosive sound.