India's trade deficit narrows to $2.91 bn

New Delhi: After contracting for six months in a row, the country's exports grew by 5.27 per cent year-on-year to $27.4 billion in September, while imports slipped by 19.6 per cent to $30.31 billion, according to the commerce ministry data released on Friday.

The trade deficit during the month under review narrowed to $2.91 billion as against $11.67 billion in the same period of 2019. The exports in September last year stood at $26.02 billion.

Exports during April-September this fiscal dipped by 21.43 per cent to $125.06 billion. Imports during the period stood at $148.69 billion, recording a negative growth of 40.06 per cent.

Commodities that registered positive growth in exports in September include iron ore (109.52 per cent), rice (92.44 per cent), oil meals (43.9 per cent), carpet (42.89 per cent), pharmaceuticals (24.36 per cent), Meat, dairy and poultry products (19.96 per cent), Cotton yarn/fabrics/madeups, handloom products (14.82 per cent), Tobacco (11.09 per cent), Spices (10.07 per cent), petroleum products (4.17 per cent), Engineering goods (3.73 per cent), chemicals (2.87 per cent), and coffee (0.79 per cent).

The ministry said that in September 2020, oil imports fell 35.92 per cent to $$5.82 billion. During April-September 2020-21, it contracted 51.14 per cent to $31.85 billion.

Non-oil imports in September too declined by 14.41 per cent to $24.48 billion. The imports during the first half of the current fiscal declined 36.12 per cent to $116.83 billion, the preliminary data showed. Gold imports dipped by 52.85 per cent during September this year.

Since March, the exports were recording negative growth due to COVID-19 pandemic and sluggish global demand.