i think the party will be over
NEW DELHI: At least 10 million Indians will lose their jobs by March as the economic slowdown in North America and Europe hits India's exports, a key exporters' association predicted Tuesday, according to a report.
The gloomy forecast comes despite two economic stimulus packages unveiled by the Indian government, including one on Friday, to boost growth in Asia's third-largest economy.
“There will be 10 million job losses by March," said A. Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
"I can safely say that negative growth trends will continue in December and in the next couple of months... I hope we will end the fiscal year (to March 31) with exports of about 175-180 billion dollars" said Sakthivel, lower than New Delhi's target of 200 billion dollars for 2008-2009.
India's exports, which totalled almost 160 billion dollars last year, account for about 20 percent of gross domestic product and the sector employs 150 million people, according to FIEO.