India's Merchandise Trade Deficit Grew To $20.67 Billion In July

India's merchandise trade deficit in July stood at $20.67 billion, according to a Reuters calculation based on export and import data released by the government on Monday, according to Reuters.

Economists expected a July trade deficit of $21 billion, according to a Reuters poll.

According to Reuters, Merchandise exports stood at $32.25 billion, while imports were $52.92 billion in July, the government data showed. The previous month, merchandise exports were $32.97 billion, while imports stood at $53.10 billion.

Russia emerged as the second-biggest goods seller to India in April-July, with exports doubling to $20.45 billion during the period from $10.42 billion during the same period last year, data showed.

India has been gorging on Russian oil since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, helping it climb from the position of 18th biggest supplier of goods to India before the war, reports Reuters.

China remained the biggest supplier of goods to India even with imports falling to $32.70 billion from $34.55 billion.

Services exports in July were $27.17 billion, while imports were $14.85 billion. In June, services exports were $27.12 billion and imports were $15.88 billion, according to Reuters.

For the April-July period, services and merchandise exports fell about 6% year-on-year to $244.15 billion, while imports fell 11% to $272.41 billion.