At $19.1 bn, India's trade deficit widens to 4-month high

India’s trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $19.1 billion in April, as goods exports rose just over 1% to $35 billion, while imports increased over 10% to $54.1 billion.
Gold imports trebled to $3.1 billion in April, from $1 billion a year ago, as prices hovered near record highs. Higher crude prices also pushed up India’s oil imports by over 20% to $16.5 billion. Electronics, the second biggest component of India’s import bill, too went up 10% to top $7 billion. Fourteen of the 30 selected commodities, including coal, precious and semi-precious stones and iron and steel, however, registered a decline. On the export front, 13 of the 30 key sectors grew, with electronic goods being the top performer.
Drugs and pharma and chemicals were the other major gainers. Among the laggards were engineering goods, the largest item in India’s export basket, with the value of shipments declining 3.2% to $8.7 billion. Price boost meant that petrol and diesel exports ended the month 3% higher at $6.6 billion. Tepid demand in developed markets resulted in export of gems and jewellery falling 6.9% to $2.3 billion. Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said the figures show that the new fiscal year started on a good note and hoped that it would continue.