Demand slowly picking up: Nirmala Sitharaman on exports

NEW DELHI: Expressing optimism over the export sector, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said turnaround is slowly happening and demand is gradually picking up.

She said that exports are declining in value terms due to reasons like currency devaluation in many parts of the world and certain African countries refusing to pay in dollars.

"I think the turnaround is slowly happening in exports. There is a definitely a change, I think demand is slowly picking up," she told reporters when asked about the outlook of exports.

Declining for 17th straight month in April, exports dipped by 6.74 per cent to $20.5 billion due to sharp fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering products amid tepid global demand.

When asked whether any date has been finalised for resuming the negotiations from the proposed free trade agreement with European Union, the minister said the EU has to give the dates.

The negotiations for the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement ( BTIA) have been held up since May 2013 as both the sides are yet to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sector.

Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed BTIA have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues like intellectual property rights, duty cut in automobile and spirits, and liberal visa regime.