Page 20 - Banking Finance March 2025

PRESS RELEASE

India Exim Bank forecasts India’s merchandise exports to amount to

US$ 124.8 bn and Non-oil exports to amount to US$ 109.3 bn for Q4

(January-March) of FY2025

Export-Import Bank of India (India Exim Bank) forecasts non-oil exports are released by Exim Bank on a quarterly
India’s total merchandise exports to amount to US$ 124.8 basis, during the first fortnight of the months of May,
bn, witnessing a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 3.64%, while August, November, and February for the corresponding
non oil exports are forecast to amount US$ 109.3 bn, with quarters, based on its Export Leading Index (ELI) model.
a y-o-y growth of 11.34%, during Q4 (January-March) of The next growth forecast for India’s exports for the first
FY2025. Non-oil and non-gems and jewellery exports are quarter of FY 2026 (i.e., April-June 2025) would be released
forecast to amount US$ 98.5 bn, with a y-o-y growth of during the first fortnight of May 2025.
10.1%, during Q4 (January-March) of FY2025. The improvisations to the model and the forecast results

Positive growth in India’s exports could be as a result of have been reviewed by a standing technical committee of
strong agricultural harvest, revival in manufacturing activity domain experts comprising Dr. Sunil Kumar, Adviser,
Department of Economic and Policy Research, Reserve Bank
and improving demand prospects in trading partners. The
of India, Mumbai; Professor Saikat Sinha Roy, Professor,
positive growth rate in total merchandise exports, non-oil
Department of Economics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata;
exports, and non-oil & non-gems and jewellery exports, are
likely to continue in first quarter of the next financial year. Professor N. R. Bhanumurthy, Director, Madras School of
Economics, Chennai; and Professor C. Veeramani, Director,
The outlook is, however, subject to risks of global trade
policy uncertainty, rising geo-economic fragmentation and Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
persisting geo-political tensions. As part of its continued research initiatives, Exim Bank has
developed an in-house model to generate an Export Leading
With these forecasts, India’s total merchandise exports for
Index (ELI) for India to track and forecast the movement in
the full year for FY2025 are expected to be US$ 446.5 billion, India’s exports on a quarterly basis. The ELI gauges the
witnessing 2.2% increase over FY2024. Non-oil exports are
outlook for the country’s exports and is essentially developed
forecasted at US$ 382 billion, while non-oil and non-gems
as a leading indicator to forecast growth in total
and jewellery exports are forecast to touch US$ 350 billion
merchandise and non-oil exports of the country, on a
for FY2025. quarterly basis, based on several external and domestic
Forecast of growth in India’s total merchandise exports and factors that could impact exports of the country.

Bank of Maharashtra gets the regulator’s nod for Gift City Branch
Bank of Maharashtra announced today that it has received approval from Reserve Bank of India to set up an International
Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Unit in GIFT City. The branch will function as Bank of Maharashtra’s first
international branch carrying out offshore banking operations from India.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nidhu Saxena, MD & CEO, Bank of Maharashtra, said,” This is a significant opportunity for
our bank as we continue to expand our operations across geographies. The opening of IBU in Gift City will be yet another
milestone in bank’s growth story. This development will benefit us to expand our international banking business and also
enable us to provide specialised banking services to our customers.”

Aligned to the Government’s vision of making India an international financial hub the GIFT City, located in Gandhinagar,
Gujarat is India’s first International Financial Services Center, aimed at revolutionizing India’s financial eco-system by
providing world-class banking services locally and reducing reliance on offshore financial hubs. The Center has also become
a hub for fintech innovation and global investments, generating jobs and attracting institutions across banking, education
and technology centres.
The IFSC Banking Unit of the Bank will provide the bank to access International financial markets and will allow the Bank
to deliver a complete range of products to its clients with foreign currency funding requirements.

18 | 2025 | MARCH | BANKING FINANCE