October saw a sharp increase in global crude oil prices, causing a rise in the country’s import bill. Additionally, gold imports rose by 5.5% to $29.48 billion compared to the previous year.
The trade deficit in September stood at $19.37 billion. However, the country’s merchandise exports saw a 6.2% increase to $33.57 billion in October, compared to $31.60 billion the year before. Meanwhile, merchandise imports reached $65.03 billion, up from $57.91 billion year-on-year.
The increase in exports during October is a welcomed relief as it breaks the declining trend of recent months. However, merchandise exports have fallen by 7% during April-October compared to the same period the previous year. Merchandise imports for the same period were down by 8.95% at $391.96 billion.
Moving towards the crude oil market, crude oil futures on Wednesday remained steady at Rs 6,508 per barrel as demand decreased. In New York, globally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped by 0.04% at USD 78.23 per barrel, while Brent crude was trading 0.04% down at USD 82.44 per barrel.
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