Merchandise exports grow 19.5% in Q1

India's merchandise exports grew over 19.5 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal to $ 17.48 billion.

But with imports growing over 38 per cent during April-June, the country's trade deficit nearly doubled to $ 11.46 billion during the period.

'Though the export growth is not lacklusture, the growth is operating on a high base and there are signs of a global slowdown. The coming months could witness some compression of the growth rates as external demand could slow down,' D K Joshi, Senior Economist, Crisil said.

According to the provisional data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry, imports grew 38.02 to $ 32.36 billion during hte first quarter this year, compared to $23.44 billion during April-June 2004 on account of a surge in non-oil imports.