Trade deficit widens to 30-month high in May at $13.8 bn

Merchandise exports for May came in at $24.01 bn, up 8.32% from a year ago

Country's trade deficit further widened to $13.84 billion in May, its highest in two-and-a-half years, on higher gold imports, government data showed on Thursday.

The deficit was $13.25 billion in April.

Gold imports surged to nearly $5 billion from $3.85 billion a month ago. Year-on-year, the import of the precious metal more than trebled.

Merchandise exports for May came in at $24.01 billion, up 8.32% from a year ago. Goods imports for the month were $37.86 billion, a gain of 33.09% from the same period last year, data from the commerce and industry ministry showed.