Imports lowered by 18.1 pc year-on-year to $36.67 billion. Import of gold and silver registered a decline of 18.9% from $1.77 billion to $1.72 billion dollar month-on-month. With it, import of precious metals reported a staggering decline of 77% on an yearly basis. Ministry of Trade is known to recommend relaxation in norms concerning gold imports in the country.

Import of crude oil for the month stood at $13.18 billion, a decline of 10.1% in comparison to the corresponding period a year ago. Imports for the period from April to January lowered by 7.8% year-on-year.

Exports for the month grew marginally to $26.75 billion vs $26.35 billion month-on-month, an increase 3.8% on an yearly basis. After reporting a marginal increase, export data is expected to further improve in the coming months. For the April-January period, exports reported higher figure of $257.09 billion, an increase of 5.7% year-on-year. Export of gems and jewellery and iron ore also registered an increase in the January month.

After the release of the trade data for April-January period, rupee was trading higher at Rs. 62.32 against the dollar.

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