India trade deficit down for September |
India`s exports contracted to 6.57% in September as shipments of petroleum, engineering, gems & jewelry and chemicals fell. Imports declined 13.85% to a 3 ¬year low of $36.89 billion, indicating weak domestic demand in a slowing economy. The trade deficit narrowed to a seven¬ month low of $10.86 billion from $14.95 billion a year earlier and $13.45 billion in August. The drop in shipments of petroleum, engineering, leather, chemicals and gems & jewelry made India`s exports shrink to $26.03 billion. According to data, only eight out of 30 key export sectors showed growth in September. The softening of commodity prices including crude, the US¬-China trade war, Brexit and developments in Iran, Turkey and other gulf nations further aggravated the problem of the world economy. India`s exports of gems & jewellery, engineering goods and petroleum products contracted 5.56%, 6.2% and 18.6%, respectively whereas Electronic exports rose 33%. All other major export sectors including labor-intensive segments were in the negative, showing a decelerating trend. The uncertainty attached has also affected the flow of investment and added to currency volatility. Gold imports plunged 50.82% to $1.27 billion. Non-¬oil and non¬-gold imports fell 8.8% in September, indicating weak domestic demand.
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