Trade Deficit Widens To $29.65 Bn

New Delhi: India’s exports registered a steepest decline in 13-month falling 9.3 per cent in August to $34.71 billion due to global economic uncertainties, while the trade deficit soared to a 10-month of $29.65 billion. According to the government data released on Tuesday, imports increased by 3.3 per cent to $64.36 billion, which is a record high, due to a significant jump in the inbound shipments of gold and silver.

While gold imports more than doubled to $10.06 billion in August from $4.93 billion in the same month last year, silver imports swelled to $727 million in the month under review from $159 million in August 2023. Due to a decline in petroleum prices, crude oil imports dipped by 32.38 per cent to $11 billion. The dip in prices has also impacted the merchandise exports. The trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports, in October 2023 was $30.43 billion. The merchandise exports in July last year contracted by over 10 per cent. India’s merchandise exports fell by 1.5 per cent in July. Exports during April-August this fiscal increased 1.14 per cent to $178.68 billion, and imports grew 7 per cent to $295.32 billion.