India's Oct merchandise trade deficit widens to record level as gold imports jump by 95% YoY
New Delhi: India's merchandise trade deficit widened to an all-time high level in October, bolstered by a 95 percent jump in gold imports, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
The data issued by the ministry revealed that India's goods trade deficit soared to $31.46 billion in October in comparison to $26.3 billion in the corresponding month last fiscal.
In October, India imported gold worth $7.2 billion, up from $3.7 billion in the -year-ago period.
India, the largest global purchaser of gold, witnessed an uptick in the import of the precious metal ahead of Diwali.
In the current fiscal year 2023-24, gold imports have gone up by 5.5 percent to $29.48 billion.
Although October marked a record high in the merchandise trade deficit, exports showed a year-on-year growth of 6.2 percent to $33.57 billion.
In contrast, imports surged by 12.3 percent to $65.03 billion during the same period.
For the April-October period, year-on-year figures showed a 7 percent decline in merchandise exports at $244.89 billion, while imports dropped by 8.95 percent, amounting to $391.96 billion.
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