The commerce ministry has constituted a 12-member high-level advisory group which will suggest ways to promote the country’s trade, an official said on Thursday.

The group will study exchange rate management and impact of trade wars and suggest strategies.

The panel will also examine prevailing trade dynamics, and suggest a framework for India to engage in international trade.

“The group on future foreign trade policy will suggest ways to boost India’s trade qualitatively and quantitatively,” the official said.

The panel will be headed by the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) part-time member Surjit Bhalla. The other members include principal economic adviser Sanjeev Sanyal, former commerce secretary Rajiv Kher and Quality Council of India chairman Adil Zainulbhai.

The panel will hold its first meeting in the first week of October and will submit a report to the commerce ministry.

In April 2015, the government had released the foreign trade policy for 2015-20, which provided a framework for increasing the exports of goods and services.

The five-year policy provided guidelines for enhancing exports with the overall objective of pushing economic growth and generating employment.

In 2020, the commerce ministry will release the new policy for the next five years.

Under the policy, the government announces steps for exporters. At present, the government has two schemes —merchandise and services export from India.

WTO forecast

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Thursday lowered the growth projections for trade to 3.9 per cent from the 4.4 per cent estimated earlier for 2018, a development which may not augur well for India. The WTO said that escalating trade tensions and tighter credit market conditions in important markets will slow trade growth for the rest of this year and in 2019.