India recorded the highest monthly exports during the fiscal in February, registering an 11.9 per cent growth at $41.4 billion, mainly driven by increased shipments of engineering goods, electronic items and pharma products.

Trade deficit in February worked out to $18.7 billion, up from $16.57 billion in the year-ago month, as gold imports surged significantly. Merchandise imports were valued at $60.11 billion, up 12.16 per cent compared with $53.58 per cent in February 2023.

Gold imports rose 133.82 per cent to $6.15 billion in February from $2.63 billion in the year-ago period. During April-February, gold imports stood at $44 billion, an increase of 38.76 per cent over the year-ago period.

Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said: “If you look at the 11 months period of the financial year this is the highest export growth we have achieved, both merchandise as well as overall. This is very heartening.”

India’s overall exports are likely to be higher this financial year than last year’s record exports, he added.