Trade Imbalance
The new government will have to overhaul the trade framework if India is to play any meaningful role on the world stage.
As the government starts its second term, it will have to focus on one area where it did not deliver in the last term boosting exports. In 2018/19, India's merchandise exports hit a record $331 billion, but did not cross the government's target of $350 billion. More importantly, they were just 5.3 per cent over the $314.4 billion achieved in 2013/14. Also, the export to GDP ratio in 2018/19 was 12.2 per cent, almost half the 23 per cent achieved in 2013/14. What should the government do this time round?
It needs to overhaul the trade policy. The focus has to be on goods and services where India is competitive. There is a need to widen the portfolio of products in the export basket
