India's exports drop by 28% to $13.6 bn

 India's exports declined by 28.4 per cent in July over the same month last year, contracting for the tenth month in a row, as overseas shipments were hit by slowdown in major global markets like the US and Europe.

Exports dropped to $13.62 billion in July from $19.03 billion in the same month last year, according to the government data released on Tuesday.

Imports too, dipped for the seventh straight month by 37.1 per cent to $19.62 billion in July from $31.18 billion over the year-ago month.

Trade deficit for July was $5.99 billion against $12.15 billion in the same month last year. Exports plunged by 27.7 per cent to $12.81 billion in June from $17.73 billion in the year-ago period.

The exports during April-July period dipped by 34.1 per cent to $49.65 billion from $75.28 billion in the same period last year.

Overseas shipments grew by meagre 3.4 per cent to $168.7 billion in 2008-09 after being hit by the slowdown in the second half of the previous fiscal.