India’s April-June trade deficit tops $32 bn despite declining trade

India piled up a trade deficit of $10.83 billion in June 2015, taking its trade deficit in the first three months of the current financial year (April-June 2015-16)  to $32.22 billion, even as its overall trade, including imports and exports, continued to decline.

The country's trade deficit for April-June 2014-15 stood higher at $33.08 billion.

Merchandise exports from the country in June 2015 were valued at $22.29 billion (Rs142,341.88 crore), which was 15.82 per cent lower in dollar terms and 10 per cent lower in rupee terms compared to exports worth $26.48 billion (Rs158,165.21 crore) in June 2014.

Cumulative value of exports for April-June 2015-16 stood at $66.69 billion (Rs423,315.24 crore) against $80.11 billion (Rs478,928.90 crore) in April-June 2014-15,  registering a negative growth of 16.75 per cent in dollar terms and a 11.61 per cent decline in rupee terms over the same period last year.

Imports during June 2015 were valued at $33.12 billion (Rs211,484.61 crore), which was 13.40 per cent lower in dollar terms and 7.42 per cent lower in rupee terms compared to the level of imports valued at $38.24 billion (Rs228,427.88 crore) in June 2014.

Cumulative value of imports for the April-June 2015-16 period stood at $98.92 billion (Rs627,830.30 crore) against $113.20 billion (Rs676,694.53 crore) in April-June 2014-15,  registering a negative growth of 12.61 per cent in dollar terms and 7.22 per cent decline in rupee terms over the same period last year.

Imports of crude oil, the single largest component of the country's import bill, were valued at $8.68 billion in June 2015, which was 34.97 per cent lower than imports valued at $13.34 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Oil imports during April-June 2015-16 were valued at $24.66 billion, which was 39.54 per cent lower than the oil imports worth $40.79 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Non-oil imports during June 2015 were estimated at $24.44 billion, which was 1.85 per cent lower than such imports worth $24.90 billion in June 2014.

Non-oil imports during April-June 2015-16 were valued at $74.26 billion, which was 2.55 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at $72.41 billion in April-June 2014-15.