Trade deficit widened to $20.11 billion in April as imports surged by 30.97 per cent to $60.3 billion, largely driven by elevated commodity prices and a

spike in crude rates. Exports grew 30.7 per cent to $40.19 billion.

“After a record performance in the last financial year, exports continued robust growth in April 2022 with merchandise exports scaling a new high by crossing $40 billion,” the commerce ministry said on Friday.

“Exports are set to rise by 9 per cent in FY2023, with expectations of a sharp slowdown in world trade volumes, being partly offset by higher commodity prices during the duration of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“Imports are set to expand by a faster 16 per cent in FY2023 as domestic demand growth is likely to outpace external demand.

“Accordingly, we expect the trade deficit to widen to an all-time high of $250-255 billion in FY2023,” Aditi Nayar, chief economist of ICRA, said.