October trade gap narrows, comes in at $9.77 bn

The trade deficit for the month of October has narrowed to USD 9.77 billion versus USD 10.48 billion month-on-month (MoM), with exports at USD 21.35 billion against USD 21.84 billion MoM and imports coming in at USD 31.12 billion versus USD 31.32 billion MoM.

Oil imports during the period under review stood at USD 6.85 billion against USD 6.63 billion MoM, while non-oil imports came in at USD 24.27 billion versus USD 25.7 billion MoM. Gold imports for the month fell, coming in at USD 1.7 billion versus USD 2.06 billion MoM. Silver imports too were down at USD 332.67 million against USD 433.49 million MoM.Reacting to the news, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Chief Economic Advisor, State Bank of India, says the trade deficit number has come in lower than estimates. "We were expecting low end of the USD 10 billion mark. So, it is now around 9.7 billion. So, that is the first thing. The second thing is that if you actually look into the numbers the total export for this April to October period now is around USD 154 billion. So, that means at this rate, export is scheduled to meet the target of whatever the government has set for this fiscal."

Other details:

April-October imports down 15.17 percent at USD 232.05 billion vs USD 273.56 billion YoY April-October exports down 17.62 percent at USD 154.29 billion versus USD 187.29 billion YoYApril-October trade deficit at USD 77.76 billion versus USD 86.27 billion YoY Gold imports down 59.55 percent at USD 1.70 billion YoYOil imports down 45.31 percent at USD 6.85 billion YoYImports down 21.15 percent at USD 31.12 billion YoYExports down 17.53 percent at USD 21.35 billion YoYIron & steel imports flat at USD 1.33 billion MoM Gems & jewellery exports at USD 3.49 billion vs USD 3.65 bn MoM Petroleum products exports at USD 2.46 billion vs USD 2.45 billion MoM