India’s outbound shipments contracted for the second straight month in November as the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit consumer demand in its largest markets in Europe. Exports fell by 9.1% while imports contracted 13.3%, resulting in a trade deficit of $10 billion, the highest in 10 months, according to preliminary data released by the commerce ministry.
Major export items that dragged down growth include petroleum products (-61%), engineering goods (-8.3%), chemicals (-8.1%), readymade garments (-1.2%) while pharmaceuticals (11.1%), gems and jewellery (4.1%) and electronic goods (1%) registered positive growth. Items that drove imports and widened the trade deficit include crude petroleum chemicals (36.1%), electronic goods (12.3%), fertilizers (29.3%) and gold (2.7%). In 15 of the past 17 months, starting June 2019, the country’s exports have declined. However, since March of this year, both exports and imports started declining in high double digits, leading to a trade surplus in June for the first time in 18 years.
Courtesyg: Google (photo)
