India’s trade deficit narrows to $128 bn in April-February 2013-14
11 Mar 2014
India registered a lower trade deficit of an estimated $128.09 billion for the first 11 months of the current financial year (April-February 2013-14) helped by lower imports of gold and crude petroleum.
This compares with a trade deficit of $179.93 billion during April-February 2012-13.
Exports from the country during February 2014 were valued at $25.69 billion (Rs159,858.16 crore) which was 3.67 per cent lower in dollar terms and 11.47 per cent higher in rupee terms compared with exports worth $26.67 billion (Rs143,407.85 crore) during February 2013.
Cumulative exports during April-February 2013-14 stood at $282.78 billion (Rs17,12,422.41 crore) against $269.86 billion (Rs14,68,159.38 crore) in April-February 2012-13 - a growth of 4.79 per cent in dollar terms and a 16.64 per cent increase in rupee terms over the comparable period of the previous year.
Imports during February 2014 were valued at $33.82 billion (Rs210,451.11 crore), which showed a negative growth of 17.09 per cent in dollar terms and a 4.06 per cent decline in rupee terms over the level of imports valued at $40.79 billion (Rs219,353.56 crore) in February 2013.
Cumulative imports for the period April-February 2013-14 stood at $410.86 billion (Rs24,74,626.88 crore) against $449.79 billion (Rs24,46,387.26 crore) - a negative growth of 8.65 per cent in dollar terms and a growth of 1.15 per cent in rupee terms over the same period last year.
Imports of crude oil during February 2014 were valued at $13.70 billion, which was 3.1 per cent lower than oil imports valued at $14.13 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Oil imports during April-February 2013-14 were valued at $151.84 billion, which was 0.8 per cent higher than oil imports worth $150.63 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Non-oil imports during February 2014 were estimated at $20.12 billion, which was 24.5 per cent lower than non-oil imports of $26.66 billion in February 2013.
Non-oil imports during April-February 2013-14 were valued at $259.02 billion, which was 13.4 per cent lower than the level of such imports valued at $299.16 billion in April-February 2012-13.