Exports down 19 pc in August

Imports saw a drastic drop of 32.4 per cent in August this year to 22.66 billion,mainly due to a sharp fall in crude oil prices to 70 per barrel from a peak of 147 per barrel last year. As a result,the countrys trade gap narrowed to 8.37 billion against 15.78 billion in the same month in 2008,according to official data released on Thursday. Exports during the April-August period of the current fiscal dropped 31 per cent to 64.12 billion from 92.95 billion in the same period last year. The trend may turn positive from the third quarter of 2009-10 after remaining negative since October 2008. I think by December or even November, Crisil principal economist D K Joshi said when asked when the turnaround is possible. While the oil import bill declined by 45.5 per cent to 6.28 billion,non-oil imports were down by 25.5 per cent to 16.38 billion.