The country's export competitiveness remained unaffected during May 2002-May 2003 period as the extent of appreciation of the rupee via-a-vis the American dollar was not high compared to other currencies. However, the appreciation of currencies of industrialised countries like Italy and most European countries vis-a-vis the American greenback may marginally impact the country’s competitiveness in respect of export of leather and manufactured items, says a report of the commerce ministry’s economic division.The report titled ‘Appreciation of the Rupee: Recent trends’, says in May 2002-May 2003, the rupee appreciated by 4 per cent over the dollar. The extent of appreciation of the euro, the French franc, the German mark and the Japanese yen over the dollar was as high as 26 per cent during the same period. The report notes that appreciation of currencies vis-a-vis the dollar is a general feature in case of all economies and is nothing peculiar to India. So is the case with depreciation.It stated that most of the currencies had depreciated against the euro. But the depreciation of currencies of China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand were higher than that of India. Therefore, exports from these countries when invoiced in euro is likely to be more competitive than that of India.
