India: Merchandise exports slide at sharper pace in August
Merchandise exports shrank 13.1% year-on-year in August (July: -10.2% year-on-year). Meanwhile, merchandise Imports plummeted 25.5% on an annual basis in August (July: -28.4% yoy).. As a result, merchandise trade balance deteriorated, recording a USD 6.8 billion shortfall in August (July: USD 4.8 billion deficit). Lastly, the trend improved, with the 12-month trailing merchandise trade balance recording a USD 100.7 billion deficit in August, compared to USD 107.4 billion deficit in July.
Commenting on August’s trade figures, analysts at Nomura, noted:
“The process of normalization in the external sector stalled in August. Compared with the pre-pandemic normal (average levels of exports and imports in Jan-Feb 2020), we estimate that exports fell to 84.5% of normal in August vs 93.3% in July, and surprisingly, despite the y-o-y improvement in import growth, it eased to 70.7% of normal in August, from 73% in July”