India Sees Exports, Trade Deficit Grow in FY2011-12

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Apr. 24 – While exports surpassed the Indian government’s target of US$300 billion for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, a surge in imports has led to the country’s largest ever trade deficit.

In the 2011-2012 fiscal, exports soared by 21 percent to US$303.7 billion, compared to US$251.1 billion over the same period a year earlier. However, imports into the country grew by an even more impressive 32.1 percent to US$488.6 billion, compared to the US$369.8 billion seen in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The result of this uneven trade growth is evidenced by the record US$184.9 billion trade deficit recorded for the most recent fiscal year, and also by the expected raising of the current account deficit to 4 percent of GDP. The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council had previously forecasted a rate of 3.6 percent.

“What has primarily driven trade deficit is petroleum and gold,” Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said while releasing the initial numbers, according to the Business Standard. “In these, imports were higher by about US$69 billion, compared to 2010-11, and that almost entirely accounts for the rise in the trade deficit from US$118 billion in 2010-11 to US$185 billion in 2011-12.”

The official data on foreign trade will be released on May 2.

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