India's Oct merchandise trade deficit widens to record level as gold imports jump by 95% YoY

The data issued by the ministry revealed that India's goods trade deficit soared to $31.46 billion in October in comparison to $26.3 billion in the corresponding month last fiscal.

In October, India imported gold worth $7.2 billion, up from $3.7 billion in the -year-ago period.

India, the largest global purchaser of gold, witnessed an uptick in the import of the precious metal ahead of Diwali.

In the current fiscal year 2023-24, gold imports have gone up by 5.5 percent to $29.48 billion.

Although October marked a record high in the merchandise trade deficit, exports showed a year-on-year growth of 6.2 percent to $33.57 billion.

In contrast, imports surged by 12.3 percent to $65.03 billion during the same period.

For the April-October period, year-on-year figures showed a 7 percent decline in merchandise exports at $244.89 billion, while imports dropped by 8.95 percent, amounting to $391.96 billion.