Trade Deficit At Five-Month Low Of $13.98 Billion In September

NEW DELHI: Exports entered negative zone after five months, declining 2.15 per cent in September on a yearly basis, showed government data Monday. Imports, however, went up by 10.45 per cent in September. The increase works out to be 16.16 per cent during April-September period of 2018-19 financial year.    

The trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports, was estimated at $13.98 billion -  the lowest level in five months - during September 2018. The figure is despite a rising oil import bill amid concerns that US sanctions against Iran next month would remove a substantial volume of crude oil from the world markets. India is the world's third-biggest crude importer

The overall trade deficit stood at $94.32 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal.    

Exports were on the rise since April, after declining by 0.66 per cent in March 2018.