NEW DELHI, July 13 (Reuters) – India’s merchandise trade deficit widened to $30.43 billion in June, according to a Reuters calculation based on government export and import data released on Monday.
Economists had expected trade deficit to be $26.63 billion in June, according to a Reuters poll, compared with a deficit of $28.21 billion in the previous month.
Merchandise exports fell to $40.41 billion in May from $45.2 billion in the previous month, government data showed, while imports fell to $70.84 billion against $73.41 billion in May.
The data underscores pressure on India to sustain exports and contain import costs as it holds out for a better deal with the United States, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing confidence from new trading partners and recent electoral gains at home.
The trade ministry estimated services exports at $33.03 billion in June and services imports at $17.92 billion, leading to an estimated services trade surplus of $XX billion.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
