President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday made public his dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, particularly exports. Inaugurating the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) in New Delhi, he said "We today observe that several developed countries have consciously introduced special concessions and stimulus packages to manage the present downturn. We in India also need to ensure our exporters are adequately supported through appropriate policy interventions." Pointing out that since December 2014, exports fell for 18 straight months till May 2016 due to weak global demand, he said shipments witnessed growth only in June this year and again entered the negative zone in July and August. Recovering from the two-month dip, exports grew 4.62 per cent to USD 22.9 billion in September. The President said there is a need to focus on SMEs which have the potential for accelerated growth but are at the same time considered a high-risk venture by commercial lenders. The President noted: "Reviving exports in a scenario of sluggish demand worldwide will remain a serious challenge to us. We must overcome (it) by improving the competitiveness of the domestic industries through better infrastructure and regulation." Weak global demand has impacted exports adversely, which declined 2.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016-17, and imports have declined sharply by 11.5 per cent. A lower trade deficit has helped in narrowing the current account deficit by 0.1 per cent of GDP in April-June 2016-17, from 1.2 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the last year, he said.