India's trade deficit narrows by 7.98% to $15.28 billion in June, exports falls by 9.71%

New Delhi: India's trade deficit for June 2019 narrowed by 7.98 percent to USD 15.28 billion as against the deficit of USD 16.60 billion in June 2018, government data showed.

The country's exports registered a negative growth of 9.71 percent during June 2019 to USD 25.01 billion as compared to USD 27.70 billion in June 2018. Non-POL exports for June 2019 declined by 5.73  percent; non-POL and non-gems and jewelry exports declined by 4.86 percent.

India's imports in June 2019 too fell 9.06 percent to USD 40.29 billion in June 2019 as compared to USD 44.30 billion in June 2018, data further showed.

The major commodities which contributed towards decline exports in June 2019 have been Petroleum products (-32.85 percent), Rice (-28.05 percent), Cotton yarn/Fabrics/made-ups (-19.73 percent), Gems and Jewellery (-10.67 percent), Readymade garments (-9.18 percent), Organic & inorganic chemicals (-8.17 percent), and Engineering goods (-2.65 percent), data showed.

Import of petroleum crude & products in June 2019 (USD 11.03billion) has recorded a negative growth of 13.33 percent as compared to June 2018 (USD 12.73billion). In this connection it is mentioned that the global Brent price ($/bbl) has decreased by 15.81 percent in June 2019 vis-à-vis June 2018 as per data available from World Bank, official data said.