Gold import revision trims Nov's record trade deficit by $5 billion

India's record trade deficit for November has been revised downward to $32.8 billion from $37.8 billion, after the government made a sharp correction in gold import data.

- Dhirendra Kumar

The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), an arm of the commerce ministry, said on Wednesday that gold imports for the month were adjusted to $9.8 billion, a substantial reduction from the earlier estimate of $14.8 billion.

The $5-billion revision was attributed by PTI to a calculation error caused by alleged double counting of gold shipments in warehouses.

A commerce ministry official said the revision "emerged after a change in reporting methodology in July" and that the discrepancy was discovered during the process of reconciling figures of the DGCIS and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.