Hopes have been raised that recent instability in India's international trade sector may be levelling out following an encouraging performance in August.

The country's export figure for the month came to $21.51 billion (€19.13 billion), which was roughly equal to the $21.58 billion figure from August 2015. Imports, meanwhile, declined 14 per cent to $29.1 billion, due in large part to a fall in gold purchasing.

This means the national trade deficit shrank to $7.67 billion in August, down from $12.4 billion in May, though largely unchanged from the level seen in July.

Businesses are drawing encouragement from the fact that merchandise exports in August came in at almost the same level as last year, as well as the fact that nearly half of export sectors reported active growth. This creates hope that the nadir has now passed.

Ajay Sahai, chief executive officer of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, said: "The 14 sectors that have shown growth in exports are labour intensive and this is a good sign. From October onwards, we can expect growth in exports with an expectation to reach $280 billion for the full year."