New Delhi: India’s exports rose by 17.86 per cent in October to $26.98 billion helped by a low base. Exports had declined by 2.15 per cent in September.
In October, imports also rose by 17.62 per cent to $44 billion due to a higher oil import bill. This pushed the country’s October trade deficit to $17.13 billion. In September, the trade deficit had declined to $13.98 billion.
The country’s oil imports in October totalled $14.21 billion, up 52.64 per cent from a year earlier.
The import bill was up as the global Brent price ($/bbl) has increased by 39.66 per cent in October 2018 as compared to last year, as per data available from World Bank.
The non-oil imports rose by six per cent to $29.9 billion in the month. The deficit widened despite a steep decline of 42.9 per cent in gold imports to $1.68 billion during the month under review.
The exports on monthly basis were down compared to $27.95 billion in September.
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), president Ganesh Kumar Gupta said that despite increasing protectionism and high volatility in currencies, Indian exporters have managed well to get new orders and remain bullish on exports in short to medium term basis.
“The exports during the month is close to $ 27 billion, which re-affirms our assessment of reaching the new milestone of $350 billion in the current fiscal, the highest ever exports figures during recent years braving all the odds,” he said.
He said declining trend of crude oil prices, may provide some respite from high current account deficit and inflation.
India’s overall exports (merchandise and services combined) in April-October 2018-19 are estimated to be $ 308.32 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 17.17 per cent over the same period last year.
