India’s merchandise exports fell for an eighteenth continuous month in May. However, the rate of fall was the lowest since November 2014, when outbound trade had last grown. Exports contracted 0.79 per cent to $22.17 billion in May, against $22.34 bn in May 2015, government data showed on Wednesday.

The rate of fall has decreased for the past six months, barring April when it spiked to 6.74 per cent. Cumulative exports for the first two months of 2016-2017 (April-May) were $42.7 bn as compared to $44.4 bn for the comparable period a year before. Beside a global slowing, ...