India’s trade deficit widened to its highest in more than five years in June, the trade ministry said on Friday, driven largely by a surge in oil imports and a weaker rupee, a Reuters report said.
The oil import bill rose sharply with global oil prices amid concerns that the US sanctions against Iran would remove a substantial volume of crude oil from the world markets.
A weakening Indian rupee that hit an all-time low against the dollar last month further worsened the trade deficit.
Even India’s gold imports fell 2.8 per cent year-on-year to $2.39 billion in June from a year ago, the ministry’s statement said.