March witnesses expansion in trade deficit
The hike in crude prices and burgeoning gold demand exerted pressure on the import bill. As a consequence, the country’s trade deficit widened in the month of March.
Based on the data shared by the Ministry of Commerce, the gap between India’s imports and exports was reported at US$10.9 billion in March 2019! Contrarily, February witnessed the shortest gap in 17 months at US$9.6 billion.
In March, the imports were reported at US$ 43.44 billion as against US$ 36.3 billion in February and US$42.82 billion a year ago. Moreover, the crude oil imports climbed 5.55 per cent as compared to last year to US$11.75 billion in March. Similarly, even the oil import bill in April 2018 to March 2019 posted a growth of 29.3 per cent in comparison to last year and was recorded at US$140.47 billion.
Meanwhile, exports soared to US$32.55 billion in March from US$29.32 billion over last year. The exports figure in February stood at US$26.7 billion.
In March 2019, the import of Gold and Iron & Steel rose 31.2 per cent and 16.9 per cent, respectively to US$3.27 billion and US$1.6 billion, respectively. On the other hand, the import of the following commodities witnessed a drop – pearls and precious stones, machinery, electronic goods and coal.
Pearl and precious stone imports fell 1.03 per cent to US$3 billion. While machinery imports plummeted 5.7 per cent to US$3.2 billion, the import of electronic good spiralled 5.7 per cent to US$4.7 billion. Meanwhile, coal imports were down 14.9 per cent and were reported at US$2 billion.
The export of most commodities witnessed a rise with the exception of gems and jewellery, which dropped 0.37 per cent to US$3.4 billion. The export of engineering goods rose 16.2 per cent to US$9.41 billion. Ready-made garment exports rose 15 per cent to US$1.7 billion. While petroleum product exports rose 6.6 per cent to US$3.5 billion, drug and pharmaceutical exports rose 13.6 per cent to US$2 billion. Meanwhile, chemical exports registered a growth of 17 per cent to US$2.32 billion.