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Breaking a three-month streak of positive growth, India’s goods exports contracted in july even as the import bill rose, widening the trade deficit
Export Trends:
Decline: Exports contracted by 1.5% in July, totaling $33.98 billion, the lowest in eight months.
Exports dropped by 3.5% from June.
Key Factors: The decline was largely due to a 22.2% drop in petroleum product exports, which fell to $5.2 billion.
Import Trends:
Increase: Imports rose by 7.5% in July, reaching $57.5 billion.
Imports grew by 2.3% from June.
Key Drivers: Oil imports surged by 17.4% to $13.8 billion due to higher prices.
Silver imports skyrocketed by over 439% to nearly $650 million.
Imports of consumer goods, including electronics (up 11.5%), pulses (up 43%), and vegetable oils (up 14.5%), increased.
Trade Deficit:
The trade deficit widened by 23.7% to $23.5 billion in July.
The deficit was nearly 12% higher compared to June’s $21 billion.
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