India's March exports fall 0.7 percent, trade deficit widens

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's merchandise exports in March fell 0.7 percent year-on -year, for the first time in five months, and the trade deficit widened to $13.69 billion because of a surge in imports, government data showed on Friday.

Merchandise exports last month fell to $29.1 billion year-on-year while imports rose 7.15 percent to $42.8 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)