Coal news and updates

Feb trade deficit narrows to lowest since Sept ’13

India's trade deficit narrowed in February to its lowest since September 2013 as exports contracted at a slower pace, with demand remaining weak from Europe, the country's biggest market.

India has been struggling with weak global demand although the blow has been softened by a collapse in its oil import bill and curbs on gold imports.

Cheaper Chinese exports have undercut India's engineering exports, which constitute around a quarter of total goods exports.

Merchandise exports, equivalent to about 15% of India's $2-trillion economy, contracted for the 15th straight month in February. They fell 5.66% from a year earlier to $20.74 billion, revealed data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on March 15.

February imports, fell 5.03% from a year earlier to $27.28 billion, compared with $28.71 billion in the previous month.

The trade deficit for February narrowed to $6.54 billion, mainly due to soft demand for crude oil and falling commodity prices, compared with $7.64 billion a month ago.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has rejected calls to devalue the currency, saying last week that the central bank would not target the rupee's exchange rate and would only intervene to curb volatility.

India's economy is estimated to grow at 7.6 percent in the current fiscal ending

March.