16.5.19

April 2019: Trade Deficit Widens to $15.3 billion



India’s merchandise export growth slowed down to a four month low in April with only 0.64% rise to $26.07 billion, while imports increased at a six-month high of 4.48% to $41.4 billion.

Trade deficit widened to a five month high in April 2019 to $15.33 billion, as against $13.72 billion a year ago, on the back of higher oil imports at $11.38 billion, a jump of 9.26%, and a 53.99% jump in gold imports to $3.9 billion.

Only 14 out of 30 major export product groups were in positive territory during April 2019, including petroleum, organic and inorganic chemicals, drugs and pharma, ready made garments of all textiles, electronic goods and ceramic products.

FIEO is of the view that the global trade scenario may worsen further on the back of rising trade tensions between the US and China, putting more pressure on Indian exports in the months to come.

Services export growth in April is estimated at $17.98 billion, a rise of 2.39%, while services import was up 4.73% at $11.43 billion, resulting in $6.55 billion in net of services. Overall exports, including merchandise and services, went up 1.34% to $44.06 billion, while imports grew 4.53% to $52.83 billion, resulting in an overall trade deficit of $8.78 billion.


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