November trade deficit falls to $9.22 billion

Updated: Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 12:13 [IST]

A sharp fall in imports helped the November trade deficit to fall to $9.22 billion as against $10.56 billion in the month of October.

Sharp reduction in imports, which dropped by 16.57 per cent helped to reduce the trade deficit. Imports were placed at $33.83 billion as against $37.83 in the previous monnth of October.

Imports were the lowest since March 2011.

India's exports on the other hand rose to $24.61 billion for the month of November.

The Trade Secretary was quoted as saying that India was facing a lot of protectionism from Latin American countries.

India's rising trade deficit in the last few months was a cause of concern and also responsible for putting pressure on the Indian currency, which hit a lifetime low of 68.81 against the dollar earlier this year.

However, the government stepped in to unleash a series of measures which prompted a recovery in the rupee. One of the key measures were restriction on gold imports.

The Indian rupee was last trading at 61.29, a drop of around 25 paise over Tuesday's close, following the release of trade data. The rupee is expected to remain steady in trade in the next few days.

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