The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce said it has suggested banking and financial institutions to provide export credit in foreign currency to e-commerce exporters. However, the ministry said that this should be done based on the Reserve Bank’s guidelines. E-commerce exporters or banks may bring to the notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade any problem related to such loans.
It may be noted that the new Foreign Trade Policy 2023 also aims to promote exports through e-commerce. DGFT said in a trade note that outstanding issues related to exports through e-commerce were discussed with industry representatives, exporters and nodal departments.
The note said that one issue was non-availability of pre-shipment and post-shipment export credit for e-commerce exports and discussions have been taken up with the RBI in this regard.
The note further states that the Master Circular ‘Rupee/Foreign Currency Export Credit and Customer Service for Exporters’ has laid down a comprehensive framework and allowed all eligible persons to avail export credit before and after shipment. This includes e-commerce exporters.