August trade deficit dips to $10.84 billion versus $12.2 billion in July

NEW DELHI: Trade deficit for the month of August dipped to $10.84 billion versus $12.2 billion in July. This is 2.2% rise from $10.60 billion last year. The April-August trade deficit now stands at $56.15 billion versus $70.60 billion YoY.

While exports in August increased marginally to $26.96 billion versus $26.25 billion YoY, the imports rose to $37.80 billion versus $36.85 billion YoY. The April-August exports now stand at $134.8 billion, up 7.3% YoY. On the other hand, April-August imports have dipped to $190.95 billion, down 2.7% YoY.

Gold imports in August saw a bump-up to $2.04 billion, up 175.5% YoY. The oil imports were reported at $12.84 billion, down 15% YoY. The non-oil imports came in at $24.96 billion, up 13.8% YoY. Exports of gems, jewellery declined 10.3% YoY to $3.23 billion.

Earlier in the day, Wholesale Price Index ( WPI) for the month of August shrunk to a five-year low of 3.74% versus 5.19% in July. This is much below an ET Now poll of 4.4%.

The August WPI inflation is the lowest since October 2009 when it stood at 1.8 per cent. The WPI for June has been revised to 5.6% versus 5.43% earlier.

The primary articles inflation dipped to 3.89% in August versus 6.78% in July. The manufactured products inflation came in at 3.45% versus 3.67% in July. The food price index dipped substantially to 5.15% versus 8.43% in July. The fuel & power inflation was reported at 4.54% versus 7.40% in July.

While the news was greeted with cheer, most analysts are of the opinion that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tough stand on inflation will continue, since it is the Consumer Price Index ( CPI) that the central bank tracks.