Merchandise May exports up by 13% to $ 13.78 bn

Imports rose by 27.1 per cent to $ 24.55 billion in the month under consideration.

With imports outpacing exports, the trade deficit widened to $ 10.77 billion, mostly fueled by rising cost of crude oil imports, which stood at $ 8.47 billion during the month, which is 51 per cent higher than $ 5.61 billion recorded a year ago.

Exports during April-May of 2007-08 stood at $ 28.18 billion, up 21.7 per cent from $ 23.16 billion, while imports for the first two months of the 2008-09 rose by 31.7 per cent to $ 48.82 billion.