Global survey finds planned exports hitting 18-month high

NEW DELHI: Planned exports activity has hit an 18-month high globally, and India is among the countries expecting an increase in exports going forward, says a Grant Thornton report.

Countries with the greatest increases in planned exports in January-March quarter were Germany (up 13 percentage points to 35 per cent from 22 per cent), Greece (up from 26 per cent to 34 per cent).

India's planned exports touched 34 per cent from 28 per cent in the year-ago period, the figure for Netherlands stood at 30 per cent from 18 per cent and Ireland (from 18 per cent to 28 per cent).

A global survey by Grant Thornton of 2,500 businesses in 36 economies finds that while planned export activity has hit an 18-month high, challenges loom in balancing long-term trends and sudden policy shifts.

"For businesses thinking about their future export plans, assessing longer-term trends and sudden changes in government policy will be a balancing act, according to the data from our last quarterly Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR)," said Paul Raleigh, Grant Thornton Global Leader- Growth and Advisory services.

"Export expectations are up in the G7 (up 3 percentage points) and the EU (up 2 percentage points)," Raleigh said adding "the strong US dollar puts imports at an advantage compared to local products".

Regarding the US and China major trade deals, Raleigh said "the impact on global trade flows could be sizeable. These are the world's two biggest economies and if the amount they sell to each other increases, we could see a positive knock-on effect through American and Chinese business supply chains".