Services exports up 14.3% in August; imports grow 16.3%

India's services exports rose 14.3% to USD 11.89 billion in August from the previous month, according to Reserve Bank of India.

The country's total receipts from services exported were USD 10.40 billion in July, showed the RBI data released today. Imports of services also grew 16.3% in August to USD 6.86 billion, compared to USD 5.89 billion in July. Oerall, the services sector contributes over 50% to India's GDP. During the April-August period this fiscal, the country's cumulative exports of services amounted to USD 56.64 billion. Imports, meanwhile, stood at USD 33.93 billion during the first five months of 2011-12. RBI has recently started releasing provisional aggregate monthly data on India's international trade in services, with a lag of 45 days. For the first time, the data for April this year was released on June 15. This provisional data will undergo a revision once the Balance of Payments (BoP) data is compiled on a quarterly basis, which will be released with a lag of a quarter, the apex bank said.