Imports in January saw a decline of 3.63 per cent to $50.66 billion, as against $52.57 billion in January 2022. Merchandise imports in December 2022 stood at $58.24 billion.
Trade deficit in January stood at $17.75 billion from $23.76 billion in December.
During April-January this fiscal, however, the country’s merchandise exports rose by 8.51 per cent to $369.25 billion. Imports during the period increased by 21.89 per cent to $602.20 billion.
India’s external position remains stable with narrowing of merchandise trade deficit, higher services exports and more than-expected remittance growth. Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das expects India to get more overseas inflows and the current account deficit to ease hereon.
The situation has shown improvement in the third quarter as imports moderated in the wake of lower commodity prices, helping merchandise trade deficit to narrow.
