India's October trade deficit hits one-year high of $39.88 billion as gold imports jump

India’s merchandise trade gap climbed to $39.88 billion in October, its widest in a year, Business Recorder reported. The figure exceeded the $32.25 billion forecast and September’s $30.21 billion shortfall, as total imports rose to $89.35 billion while exports reached $49.47 billion.

Gold purchases surged to $5.51 billion from $1.8 billion a month earlier, while petroleum imports increased 54.31% year-on-year to $22.82 billion. Higher energy costs and pre-festival buying contributed to import growth; India’s crude import dependence is nearly 85%. For April through October, combined goods and services exports grew 16.66% year-on-year to $568.84 billion, but imports rose 16% to $662.19 billion, taking the overall deficit to $93.35 billion.