India’s Trade Deficit Widens To $14.6 Billion In May

India’s trade deficit widened in May on rising oil imports.

The gap between exports and imports was 5.6 percent wider than a year ago at $14.62 billion, Bloomberg reported citing a Commerce Ministry statement. That’s marginally higher than $14.27 billion consensus estimate of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The trade deficit stood at $13.72 billion last month.

The value of India’s exports in May rose 20.2 percent on a yearly basis to $28.9 billion. That’s the highest export growth since November 2017.

Imports rose 14.9 percent year-on-year to $43.5 billion. Oil imports rose 49.5 percent to $11.5 billion while inbound gold shipments fell 30 percent to $3.48 billion during the period.