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India’s merchandise trade deficit widened in October to $17.13 billion due in large part to a higher oil import bill, official data released on Thursday showed. The trade deficit is wider than the $14.61 billion seen in October of last year and the $13.98 billion in September 2018. Positive growth “Exports in October 2018 were $26.98 billion, as compared to $22.89 billion in October 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 17.86%,” a release said. “In rupee terms, exports were Rs. 1,98,634.84 crore in October 2018, as compared to Rs. 1,48,962.64 crore in October 2017, registering a positive growth of 33.35%.” This growth in exports marks a rebound from the contraction of 2.15% seen in September in dollar terms. The major commodities that saw stronger growth in exports compared with last year include engineering goods (8.87%), petroleum products (49.38%), gems and jewellery (5.48%), organic and inorganic chemicals (34.01%), and drugs and pharmaceuticals (12.83%). “The October data shows that the exports are again back on double-digit growth trajectory during the on-going festive season,” said Ganesh Kumar Gupta, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. “Imports in October 2018 were $44.11 billion (Rs. 3,24,774.78 crore), which was 17.62% higher in dollar terms and 33.07% higher in rupee terms over imports of $37.50 billion (Rs. 2,44,064.20 crore) in October 2017,” the government said. Oil imports in October 2018 were $14.21 billion, which was 52.64% higher in dollar terms compared with October last year and 30.2% higher than the oil imports of September 2018.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/trade-deficit-rises-to-1713-bn/article25511612.ece
