India's trade deficit shoots up in October due to spike in oil prices

The sharp spike in global crude oil prices has led to an increase in the country's import bill. Similarly, gold imports were up 5.5% to $29.48 billion compared to October 2022.

The trade deficit stood at $19.37 billion in September.

The country's merchandise exports increased by 6.2% to $33.57 billion in October, up from $31.60 billion in October 2022, while themerchandise imports stood at $65.03 billion, up from $57.91 billion year-on-year.

The increase in exports during the month came as a welcome relief as it broke the declining trend in the recent months.

Merchandise exports have fallen 7% during April-October this year to $244.89 billion compared to the same period of the previous year.

The April-October merchandise imports worked out to $391.96 billion, down 8.95% from the same period last year.

Crude oil futures

Crude oil futures on Wednesday remained flat at Rs 6,508 per barrel as participants trimmed their positions on low demand. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for November delivery remained flat at Rs 6,508 per barrel with a business volume of 5,087 lots.

Globally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil went lower by 0.04 per cent at USD 78.23 per barrel, while Brent crude was trading 0.04 per cent down at USD 82.44 per barrel in New York.