India had reasons to cheer both on the inflation and external trade fronts. Data for October released by the government on Tuesday showed that retail inflation dropped to a 14-month low of 4.20 percent, while exports rose 9.5 percent despite a sluggish global economy. Gold imports increased 108.3 percent to $3.50 billion from $1.68 billion in October 2015 and trade deficit to $10.1 billion.

Exports stood at $23.5 billion in October when compared to $21.4 billion in October 2015, aided by an increase in two key categories — gems and jewellery and engineering goods.

Gems and jewellery exports rose 21.8 percent to $4.38 billion from $3.59 billion in October 2015, while engineering goods saw 13.8 percent jump to $5.26 billion in comparison to $4.6 billion in the corresponding period last year. The trend was fairly consistent, with 18 of the 30 categories recording growth on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. Export of petroleum products grew 7.2 percent to $2.7 billion. Full Story

#India