India’s merchandise trade deficit posted its widest level in 7 months to USD 23.8 bn in May-24 vis-a-vis USD 19.1 bn in Apr-24
Download ReportQuantEco Research || May-24 Merchandise Trade - Deficit prints at a 7 month high
India’s merchandise trade deficit posted its widest level in 7 months to USD 23.8 bn in May-24 vis-a-vis USD 19.1 bn in Apr-24. The sequential widening of trade deficit is predominantly on account of higher deficit due to Petroleum products and Miscellaneous items, while switch from a surplus to a state of deficit for Chemical products also contributed towards the same. Notwithstanding the ongoing geopolitical disturbance in the Middle East region, India’s export performance has held up. This could be reflective of the impact of higher international commodity prices along with resilience in global demand. We maintain our estimate of FY24 current account deficit at 0.8% of GDP (with likelihood of a marginally lower print). For FY25, we continue to forecast a current account deficit of 1.0% of GDP.