India's Sept trade deficit widens to record $22.6 bn

India's merchandise exports rose $33.8 billion for the month from $27.56 billion in the same period last year

India's merchandise trade deficit widened to a record $22.6 billion in September, the highest in at least about 14 years, as crude oil and gold imports surged, data released by the government showed on Thursday.

However, the widening trade deficit is unlikely to give a major trouble to the Reserve Bank of India as the trade surplus in services and inflow of foreign funds in stock and debt markets have provided a cushion. India's forex reserves crossed $637 billion at the end of September.

The current account surplus stood at $6.5 billion in April-June quarter, data from the country's central bank released