APRIL TRADE DEFICIT HITS 4-MONTH HIGH
✍️ SOMNATH MANDAL
Educated Indians shouldn’t miss the writing (writings?) on the wall. Unlike “Mene, mene tekel upharsin” on the wall of Babylonian king Balthazar’s wall, which only Daniel could decipher, the signs on our national wall are clear for anyone who chooses to read them.
Exports plunge and imports are zooming, portending a > $ 200 bn ( Rs 16, 8000 crore) trade deficit.Of course, China benefits the most, gaining $100 bn from us …. providing literally lakhs of jobs for their citizens, at our cost. Sadly, most of our exports provide little value addition or help improve our job situation. Yes, because our exports largely involve raw materials and ores. And our electronics manufacturing is all about “screw driver” technology and packing of components imported from abroad.
Apart from the cunning roundtripping of dubious money from Mauritius, there is now little FDI and a good bit of withdrawal of flyby night operators from NSE/BSE lately, reading the likely election results.
Rupee has dropped from 59 to $ 1 in May 2014 to Rs 84 now and we are ranked 143rd globally in per capita GDP. Tamilnadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra, Telengana are above Rs 2,50,000, but India is pulled down by Bihar/UP with just Rs 65,000 despite getting massive investments from the Union Government. Because daily wages in the Hindi belt are just Rs 200, versus Rs 800-1000 elsewhere.
Amazingly, you are in the top 10% if you earn just Rs 25000 per month. No wonder our (educated) youngsters are migrating abroad in droves.
Fortunately, what they now send in Foreign exchange helps India to survive despite the massive $200 bn trade deficit. But what happens when, for obvious reasons, they cease to send it?
