Exports up 14.32 pc in July, trade deficit at near 5-yr high

India's exports rose by 14.32 percent to USD 25.77 billion in July mainly on account of the better performance of gems and jewelry sector as well as petroleum products, even as trade deficit soared to a nearly five-year high of USD 18 billion.

The merchandise exports had totaled USD 22.54 billion in July 2017.

The trade data released by the commerce ministry today also revealed that imports during July were valued at USD 43.79 billion, a growth of 28.81 percent compared to USD 33.99 billion in the year-ago period.

The sharp surge in imports led to worsening of trade deficit to USD 18.02 billion in the reporting month as against a deficit of USD 11.45 billion during July 2017.

"It is mentioned that the global Brent price ($/bbl) has increased by 53.16 percent in July 2018 vis-à-vis July 2017 as per data available from US Energy Information Administration (EIA)," the commerce ministry said while releasing the data.

Over 57 percent increase in oil import bill (USD 12.35 billion) and 41 percent jump in gold imports to USD 2.96 billion during July is believed to be the main reason behind high trade deficit.

As regards exports, the outward shipments of petroleum products surged from USD 3 billion in July last year to USD 3.9 billion, showing a growth of about 30 percent.

Export of gems and jewelry was up 24.62 percent to USD 3.18 billion.

Meanwhile, the RBI data on trade in services said exports (receipts) during June 2018 were valued at USD 16.87 billion or up 4.32 percent on an annual basis.

Services imports were USD 10.3 billion in June, up by 0.89 percent over the same month last year.

The data on services is released with a lag of one month.

Commenting on the merchandise trade data, President of exporters' apex body FIEO Ganesh Kumar Gupta said that consecutively for the third month in a row the outbound shipments have shown double-digit growth, however, the rate of growth has declined.

The FIEO noted that MSME units particularly labor-intensive sectors such as marine products, readymade garments, cotton yarn/fabs/made-ups, agri products, leather and leather products and handicrafts are in the negative territory.

"Though some of the labor-intensive sectors including gems & jewelry, carpets and jute manufacturing including floor covering have either shown impressive growth or have improved," the exporter's body said.

Cumulative value of exports for the period April-July 2018-19 was USD 108.24 billion as against USD 94.76 billion, showing a growth of 14.23 percent.

Imports during April-July totaled USD 171.20 billion as against USD 146.26 billion in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 17.05 percent.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)