India's Trade Deficit In May Jumps To $22.12 Billion, Highest Since December 2022

In May, the imports fell 6.6 per cent to $57.1 billion. The exports declined 10.3 per cent to $34.98 billion

In May, the services trade surplus stood at $11.77 billion, with services exports at $25.30 billion and imports at $13.53 billion.

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India's merchandise trade deficit rose to its highest level since December 2022 to $22.12 billion in May, government data showed on Thursday. In April, the deficit stood at $15.24 billion. In December last year, India's trade deficit was $23.76 billion. May's figure is the highest in 2023. In May, the imports fell 6.6 per cent to $57.1 billion. The exports declined 10.3 per cent to $34.98 billion. In May last year, the country reported a trade deficit of $24.29 billion.

Trade Secretary Sunil Barthwal said, "There's a slowdown in many developed countries and there is a fall in their GDP growth rates also, consequent to that their import demand...is quite low."

In May, the services trade surplus stood at $11.77 billion, with services exports at $25.30 billion and imports at $13.53 billion. In the April-May period, the merchandise and services trade deficit stood at $13.28 billion compared with $20.56 billion in the same period last year, the data showed.

Month-on-month, the merchandise exports were almost flat, as it stood at $34.6 billion in April, whereas, the imports marked a surge of nearly 14 per cent in May, as it had come in at $49.9 billion in the preceding month.

The exports in the services category came in at $25.30 billion in May, which is similar to $25.13 billion recorded in the year-ago period. The imports in this category fell to $13.53 billion, which is nearly 11 per cent lower as against $15.20 billion reported in May 2022.

"Whatever we are making in India should not focus only on domestic consumption but also focus on material that can be exported," the commerce secretary said. The commerce ministry is also looking to forge an alliance between investment and trade, and will focus on 11 countries and 8 commodity groups in the initial phase of their campaign, he added.