VOA常速英语2007-Indian Exporters Hit by Surging Rupee

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
07 October 2007

Indian exports, particularly those by small and medium companies, have been hit by the recent surge in the rupee against the dollar. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.

The Farida Group, based in the southern city of Chennai, is one of India's biggest footwear exporters. A large part of its production goes to the United States.

But Farida Group's business has taken a beating due to an 11 percent appreciation¹ in the value of the rupee against the dollar this year.

Companies like Farida are paid in dollars by their foreign customers, and those dollars now buy fewer rupees, reducing profit margins² that are already quite small.

The group's chairman, Rafeeque Ahmed, says he will not even be able to recover the cost of production from his American customers. As a result, his plans to expand capacity have been put on the back burner.

"Now we are committed to American dollar market, and we can't go back, and we are going to lose, we have to take the loss for the season," said Ahmed. "There is no question of profit, all our expansion plans, we have put it on hold now."

Ahmed's shoe business is not the only one reeling from an Indian currency that is continuing to strengthen. Small and medium exporters of textiles, gems³ and jewelry⁴, sporting goods and brass⁵ also say their profits are being squeezed by the rising rupee. Many of these companies employ fewer than 50 workers and work on very small margins.

The rupee now stands at a near-decade long high against the dollar, something the small exporters had not anticipated when they signed export contracts earlier in the year.

The president of the Federation⁶ of Indian Export Organizations, G.P. Gupta, says uncertainty⁷ about the currency has made Indian exporters wary⁸ of booking new orders.

He says exporters are also worried that they may lose out to competitors in other countries.

"Exporters are not in a position to book further order, because they do not know what will be the future position of the rupee against the dollar," said Gupta. "The situation is worse because the neighboring country currency is not appreciating that much, and whatever India is manufacturing, it is manufactured by neighboring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Their prices are more competitive, so that foreign buyers are shifting to other countries."

However, industry analysts⁹ say exports in larger sectors¹⁰, such as software and services, are expected to continue growing, but profit margins there will also be smaller.

1 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

2 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

3 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

4 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

5 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》