Exports drop 1.12% to $23 bn IN OCT; TRADE DEFICIT BALLOONS

NEW DELHI: Export declined by 1.12 per cent to $23 billion in October, retreating from a six-month high growth in September as shipments of textiles, pharmaceuticals, leather and gems and jewellery fell, official data showed.

Imports, however, grew by 7.6 per cent to $37.11 billion in October from $34.5 billion in the year-ago month, the commerce ministry data released on Tuesday showed.

Trade deficit widened to $14 billion during the month under review as against $11.13 billion in October 2016.

Gold imports dipped by 16 per cent to $2.94 billion last month.

Oil and non-oil imports grew by 27.89 per cent and 2.19 per cent to $9.28 billion and $27.83 billion, respectively in October.

Cumulative exports during April-october 2017-18 increased by 9.62 per cent to $170.28 billion, while imports grew by 22.21 per cent to $256.43 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $86.14 billion.

In October, petroleum, engineering and chemicals exports grew by 14.74 per cent, 11.77 per cent and 22.29 per cent, respectively.

India's export had soared by 25.67 per cent to $28.61 billion in September, logging its highest growth in last six months on the back of expansion in shipments of chemicals, petroleum and engineering products.

Trade deficit is an economic measure of international trade BEIJING: China's industrial output slowed in October, official data showed on Tuesday, as authorities fight smog by clamping down on pollution produced by heavy industries.

Output at factories and workshops expanded 6.2 per cent on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, in which a country's imports exceeds its exports. A trade deficit represents an outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets. It is also called a negative balance of trade. slowing from 6.6 per cent in September and below a forecast of 6.3 per cent in a Bloomberg News survey.

The government has moved to wind down production at some steel factories and smelters in a drive to clean up the country's smog-ridden cities.

Factories also closed during last month's Communist Party congress, during which President Xi Jinping called for more efforts to protect the environment. The government is also pushing to make domestic demand a growth driver of the world's second largest economy and make China less reliant on manufacturing and exports.

"Generally speaking, the national economy maintained stable performance with improved quality and sound momentum," NBS spokeswoman Liu Aihua told reporters. "However, we must be aware that China is at a pivotal stage for transforming the growth model," she said.