INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Trade Deficit in September 2021: Trade deficit widened to $22.6 billion last month
The
country's merchandise trade deficit - the gap between imports and exports, widened to a record $22.6 billion in September 2021 - the
highest level in at least 14 years, according to news agency Reuters
The country's overall exports (merchandise and services) rose 21.44 per cent to $54.06 billion in September from $44.52 billion
in the corresponding month last year, while overall imports grew 70 per cent to $68.49 billion from $40.29 in the year-ago period, according
to government data released on Thursday.Merchandise exports rose 22.60 per cent to $33.79 last month from $27.56 in the same month last
year, while merchandise imports grew 84.76 per cent to $56.39 billion from $30.52 in the year-ago period, according to data by the commerce
estimated at $312.47 billion, marking a growth of 40.52 per cent over the corresponding period last year, and a growth of 18.30 per cent
compared to the April-September period in 2019 (pre-Covid era).In terms of exports, the major groups of commodities exhibiting growth in
September 2021 are coffee, cashew, petroleum products, cotton/yard
handloom products, engineering goods, among others.Whereas, the major groups of commodities exhibiting de-growth in September include iron
ore, oil meals, oil seeds, tobacco, ceramic products and glassware, spices, meat, dairy and poultry products, drugs and pharmaceuticals.The
imports jumped to $5.1 billion from $601 million.''The sharp rise in merchandise trade deficit reflected advance imports to build up
inventories ahead of the festive season and higher oil imports to partly offset hardening prices'', said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist at
ICRA, - the Indian arm of rating agency Moody's ."The trade deficit is expected to moderate in subsequent months," she added, noting that
it could fall to in the range of $13 billion to $16 billion a month in the second half of the current fiscal.The overall trade balance
(taking merchandise and services together) for September 2021 is estimated at -$14.43 billion, compared to $4.23 billion in the year-ago
period, marking a decline of -441.40 per cent.
