India's Trade Deficit Widens As Exports Fall And Gold Imports Surge This October

The country's trade deficit widened to $13.35 billion in October as exports contracted 5.04% and gold imports surged, as per a government data. The deficit stood at $10.59 billion in October last year.

Gold imports zoomed 280% to $4.17 billion in the month, widening the trade deficit to $13.35 billion as compared to $10.59 billion in the year-ago period.

Sanjay Budhia, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committee on Exports and Imports, said, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre should soon announce the new Foreign Trade Policy.

It is worth noting that top exporting sectors that registered negative growth in October are engineering (-9.18%), pharma (-8.33%), gems and jewellery (-2.25%) and petroleum products (-0.16%). Overall, imports grew by 3.62% to $39.45 billion. Oil imports in October dipped by 19.2% to $12.36 billion. However, non-oil imports grew by 18.9% to $27.08 billion.

Notably, during April-October period, exports were up 4.72% to $189.79 billion, while imports were up 1.86 percent to $273.55 billion. Trade deficit during the period stood at $83.75 billion against $87.31 billion in the same period last fiscal. (Image: