Govt to soon release norms for offering forex credit to exporters at affordable rates

Expressing concerns over fall in export credit, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the government will soon come out with guidelines on extending foreign exchange credit to exporters at affordable rates. "We are concerned that it (export credit) has fallen, and will come up with the contours of a vibrant programme (to address the issue) soon, which will particularly support micro, small and medium enterprises," Goyal said while addressing the meeting of the Board of Trade here.

The programme, more importantly, will make foreign exchange credit available to exporters at competitive rates, he said, adding that the rates were likely to be in the sub-four per cent category. He said the ministry was waiting for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take a call on some of the issues on export credit.

The bankers are on board and "...we shall shortly be coming out with the contours that have been finalised between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the finance ministry and the commerce ministry," he added. Export credit disbursement declined 23 per cent in 2018-19 to Rs 9.57 lakh crore from Rs 12.39 lakh crore in 2017-18.

He also said the ministry would notify new anti-dumping rules this month. Further, the minister urged states to send representatives to the Board of Trade meetings.

The level of participation of states and ministries will determine the cooperation that "we will give" them, he said. "If both the senior officials and state ministers are not there, it is a matter of serious concern. I may have to talk to the respective chief ministers, he said.

He added that if the ministers of states are busy and don't find time to come for these meetings without due cause known to us in advance, "then if states have any problems, I may find myself busy to respond to those states." "I hope the message will go to those states who, for the second time, have not attended this meeting," he added.

Similarly, for central ministries, which have a stake in exports, "I will take it seriously if they are not able to come, unless they give a reason well in advance," Goyal reiterated. Goyal also said that although total exports crossed half-a-trillion-dollar mark at USD 537 billion in 2018-19, India will have to achieve USD 1 trillion of exports in the next five years.

He said the ministry will soon come out with a credit scheme for exporters with enhanced insurance cover up to 90 per cent instead of the current 60 per cent. During the board meeting, the LEADS Index-2019 was released by the minister.

Gujarat topped the chart among states in the logistics sector. It was followed by Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Among the hilly eastern states, Tripura is the top performer and, among Union Territories, Chandigarh was selected as the best-performing UT.

The index is an effort by the ministry to establish the base line of performance in the logistics sector based on the perception of users and stakeholders at the state level. It is not an index of the performance of the state government but may be used to assess the status of logistics efficiency in each state.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)