India’s trade deficit widens to $17.13 bn

NEWDELHI: India’s exports rose by 17.86% to $26.98 billion in October mainly due to the low base effect even as trade deficit widened to $17.13 billion, according to the commerce ministry data.

The exports on monthly basis were down compared to $27.95 billion in September. Imports during October also rose by 17.62% to $44.11 billion, leading to widening of trade deficit to $17.13 billion.

The deficit widened despite a steep decline of 42.9% in gold imports to $1.68 billion during the month under review. The trade gap was $14.61 billion in October 2017.

Exporters attributed close to 18% growth in exports in October to a favourable base effect, as the foreign shipments in the comparable month of the previous fiscal were quite low at $22.89 billion. The Federation of India Export Organizations (FIEO) said that exports in October last year were even lower than that of September this year. Base effect is responsible for the high growth in October, it said.

During the April-october period of the current fiscal, exports grew by 13.27% to $191 billion. Imports were up by 16.37% to $302.47 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $111.46 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal. It was $91.28 billion in April-october 2017-18.

Oil imports in October increased by 52.64% to $14.21 billion. The non-oil imports rose by 6% to $29.9 billion in the month. Oil imports during April-october this fiscal increased by 50.48% to $83.94 billion.