Government is planning to set up an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on Services to chalk out measures to beef up the exports from the sector.
The development come close on the heels of a budding deficit on the merchandise goods account, which the government has been relying on partially bridging via a surplus in invisibles earnings from remittances, software and other services exports.
The jump in the trade deficit was on the back of rising oil prices and the government is intending to enhance the inherent advantages of the counrty in services exports to further increase the invisibles accounts surpluses.
The proposed IMG will be responsible to address the skill crunch faced by the services sector, tackle underlying and explicit barriers faced by services exporters in global markets and ensuring improved sector-wise services data collection.
The Commerce Department will head the IMG and will go in for a coordinated effort by having representation from other Ministries including Finance, IT and Communication.
