Imports also declined by 13.46 per cent to $35.37 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $10.30 billion, according to the Director General of Foreign Trade A Pujari.
Imports too declined 26 per cent to $29.47 billion in August, leaving a trade deficit of $6.77 billion.
'The boycott has not achieved success. Sales figures for Chinese products on the top three Indian online retailers in the first week of October hit a new record. Amazingly, the Chinese mobile phone company Xiaomi sold half a million phones in just three days on the Flipkart, Amazon India, Snapdeal and Tata CLiQ platforms.'
The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said the government should deregulate diesel prices in order to contain the trade deficit, which is expected to widen to $160 billion during the current fiscal.
Officials said there had been no official word or indication from the top yet. The expectation from officials is to do what they can, but it is understood that all fiscal and budgetary targets don't matter anymore.
During April-July this fiscal, exports grew by 1.72 per cent to $98.2 billion. Imports too increased by 2.82 per cent to $160.7 billion during the period.
Gold and silver imports during April, 2013 jumped by 138 per cent to $7.5 billion against $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.
Expressing concern over its widening trade deficit with China, New Delhi on Monday asked the neighbouring country to provide more access to Indian goods and services to bridge the gap.
We can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses, the US President said.
India's exports dipped after a gap of four months in March but finished 2017-18 with a healthy rise of 9.78 per cent to $302.84 billion.
The deficit increased to $ 57.2 billion or 2.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018-19 as against 1.8 per cent in the previous year.
For the April-February period, exports were up 4.79 per cent to $282.7 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.
Bond market participants expect an open market operation (OMO) auction in the first week of November as the banking system liquidity is expected to ease on the back of government spending and maturity of bonds. According to market participants, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue a notification on OMO sales by October 31. They speculate that the central bank might conduct the auctions in multiple tranches of Rs 10,000 crore.
Gold imports, which have a bearing on the current account deficit, declined 47.42 per cent to $9.28 billion during April-October due to fall in demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the commerce ministry. Imports of the yellow metal stood at $17.64 billion in the corresponding period of 2019-20. The imports, however, recorded a growth of about 36 per cent in October.
Exports dipped for the 14th month in a row.
In sharp contrast, imports grew at a faster rate of 20.6 per cent year-on-year to $39.7 billion in February, translating into a trade deficit of $15.1 billion.
Trump threatens to impose additional $200 billion in tariffs on China, Beijing vows to retaliate
India's exports recorded the slowest pace of growth in three months at 4.3 per cent year-on-year at USD 24.6 billion in February, mainly due to the global slowdown.
India has demanded resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under GSP, and greater market access for its products from sectors like agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering. On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, data localisation, and import duties cut on some ICT products.
India's trade deficit shrank to a 10-month low in December as global oil prices tumbled and demand for gold fell, auguring well for Indian current account balance and the rupee.
Dollar's strength against some currencies overseas and firming crude oil prices also put pressure on the rupee, dealers said.
The largest component in computing CAD is trade deficit. India's trade deficit widened to $13.35 billion in October as exports contracted 5.04 per cent and gold imports surged
Finance ministry tells PM fiscal deficit target will be met, capex expenditure won't be cut and GDP growth will surpass 7.5%.
Exporters on Thursday demanded fiscal incentives, tweaking in customs duties on certain products and credit at affordable rates in the forthcoming Budget to boost exports and create jobs. In a pre-budget virtual meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar is affecting exports' competitiveness and the sector requires more support. "Creation of employment is the biggest challenge faced by the country...We would urge the government to provide fiscal support to units which provide additional employment in the export sector," the exporter's body said.
Sentiment took a hit after the country's trade deficit soared to a near five-year high of $18 billion in July.
The rupee fell by 41 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 79.36 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday amid a strong greenback overseas and unrelenting foreign fund outflows. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 79.04 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 79.02 and a low of 79.38. It finally settled at 79.36 (provisional), down 41 paise over its previous close.
The deficit was $17.6 billion in April 2013.
India's exports rose marginally to $27.15 billion in December 2020, while imports surged 7.56 per cent to $42.59 billion, official data showed on Friday. The merchandise exports were valued at $27.11 billion in December 2019 while imports had totalled $39.59 billion.
Due to the massive short supply of Paxlovid, demand for Indian generic versions has gone up through Chinese e-commerce platforms.
The primary and immediate impact of a depreciating rupee is on the importers who will have to shell out more for the same quantity and price. However, it is a boon for the exporters as they receive more rupees in exchange for dollars. The rupee depreciation has wiped away some of the gains that would have accrued to India from international oil and fuel prices dropping to pre-Ukraine war levels.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar described the engagement between Modi and Xi on the first day of the Informal summit as 'highly productive'.
It said New Delhi increased its purchase of foreign exchange over the first three quarters of 2017 which does not appear necessary.
Gold imports, which have a bearing on the current account deficit (CAD), plunged 57 per cent to USD 6.8 billion (around Rs 50,658 crore) during the first half of this fiscal amid a slump in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic, showed data by the commerce ministry.
Gold and silver imports declined 80.55 per cent to $1.05 billion in November after a slew of measures taken by the government to curb inbound shipments of the metal, aimed at narrowing the current account deficit.
Setting up Chinese Industrial Parks in India, increased access to Indian products to bridge the ballooning trade deficit besides border issues was expected to figure in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
Investors should view the increase in the LTCG tax rate in conjunction with the increase in capital gains exemption from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh, which will provide some relief.
Short-term government bonds fell behind longer-dated securities in demand this month so far due to a liquidity crunch in the banking system and expectations of a delay in a rate cut, said market participants. Investors have favoured longer-tenure government bonds, or g-secs, with insurance companies and pension funds leading the charge by stocking up on those with maturities of 30 years and more. Preference for longer-term securities was strengthened by the conclusion of the borrowing programme, which compelled institutional investors to fulfil their requirements in the secondary market.
Exports increased by 10.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2014-15 to $81.7 billion. Imports moderated by 6.5 per cent to $116.4 billion. The CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign currency, had touched a record high of $ 87.8 billion (4.8 per cent) in 2012-13 fiscal mainly on account of steep increase in gold imports.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said in the wake of appreciating US dollar, the movement of rupee has remained least disruptive as compared to its peers, and the size of foreign exchange reserve is comfortable. On a financial year basis (from April to October 2022), the rupee has appreciated by 3.2 per cent in real terms, even as several major currencies have depreciated, he said while announcing the latest set of bi-monthly monetary policy. "The story of the rupee has been one of India's resilience and stability," the Governor said while pointing out that the appreciation of the US dollar this year, which precipitated large-scale depreciation of all major global currencies including the Indian rupee, has drawn wide attention.
The deficit would have been lower if gold imports hadn't shot up 85.16 per cent last month to $2.91 billion
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