New Delhi - India's exports declined for the 10th straight month in July, according to government data released Tuesday.

Merchandise exports dipped by 28.4 per cent in July from a year earlier to 13.6 billion dollars, according to the federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

India recently announced a new foreign trade policy which envisaged tax refunds and incentive measures to arrest the decline in exports and check job cuts.

India's export industry has been badly hit by the economic slowdown in its traditional markets of Europe and United States, which account for 40 per cent of exports.

While announcing the new five-year policy, federal Trade Minister Anand Sharma said India would explore new markets in Africa and Latin America to boost the sector.

According to the trade data released Tuesday, India's imports also dropped by 37.1 per cent in July from a year earlier to 19.62 billion dollars, indicating a slowing of the economy.

Government data released Monday said the country's economy expanded by an annual rate of 6.1 per cent in the April to June quarter, up from 5.8 per cent growth during January-March, raising hopes that the worst of the slowdown was over.

But a poor monsoon threatened to erode growth later in the year even as it drove prices higher, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Monday.

The policymaking body, which is headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, held a meeting in Delhi Tuesday to assess the economic situation and review India's energy policy.

It was the first meeting after the United Progressive Alliance was voted back to power in general elections in May.

"We have been through a difficult year because of the global economic downturn, which is only now coming to an end with a slow return to normalcy in the months that lie ahead," Singh said.

India's gross domestic product growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in fiscal 2008-09 after posting three years of over 9-per-cent growth.

India's financial year runs from April to March. (dpa)