It is expected that government is in the plan to extend the current foreign trade policy for few months, which will get lapsed after March 31, an official said. Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) offers guidelines to enhance exports in order to create job opportunities and boost economic growth.
On 31, March 2020, the government extended the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 for a year and expected to end on 31st March 2021 because of the Coronavirus outbreak and lockdown. As per the officials, stakeholder consultation is in the action for the new policy and it is very much likely to extend the current policy for the next few months.
In Foreign Trade Policy, the government generally discusses supporting measures for goods and services exporters. However, exports for this fiscal (April-February) is dropped by 12.23% to USD 256 billion, whereas import is dipped by 23.11% to USD 340.8 billion which brings a trade deficit of USD 84.62 billion.
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Ajay Sahai (Director of Federation of Indian Export Organisations) said “the present situation is fluid and it is best to consider extending the Foreign Trade Policy for more months.” He also added to his statement that at present, the global trade situation is unsolidified and we are in try to introduce the new FTP. It will be a good decision to extend it further.
