(Bloomberg) -- India‘s trade balance went back into deficit in July as inbound shipments picked up slightly from the previous month as the economy gradually reopened.
Exports fell 10.2% from a year earlier and the drop in imports eased to 28.4%, leaving a trade deficit of $4.83 billion, according to data from the Commerce Ministry Friday. That compares with the median estimate of a $1.9 billion deficit in a Bloomberg survey of 19 economists.
Key Insights
- The decline in imports was smaller than the previous month's 48%. Exports suffered due to lower shipments of petroleum products and gems and jewelry
- India reported its first trade surplus in 18 years in June as imports collapsed after the pandemic hampered economic activity in the country. Contracting imports also helped the government post a rare current-account surplus in the January-March quarter
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to narrow the country's trade gap by boosting exports. However global demand has been hammered as the virus spreads around the world
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- Gold imports rose 4.2% from a year ago, while oil shipments were down 32%
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