By  Paul Ploumis 16 Jul 2015  Last updated at  08:22:06 GMT

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): The sharp decline in gold imports during the month of June this year helped India to contain its trade deficit to the lowest level in four months. The overall imports by the country recorded substantial drop during the month.

The gold imports by the country during June totaled $1.96 billion, significantly lower when compared with the previous months this fiscal. The country’s gold imports during April and May this year had totaled $3.13 billion and $2.42 billion respectively. Also, gold imports were significantly lower when compared with $3.12 billion in June 2014. It must be noted that gold imports had recorded almost 100% jump year-on-year in March this year. Also, April gold imports had surged higher by 78.3% from the previous year.

The Ministry of Commerce data indicates that non-gold and non-oil imports by the country dropped by 1.85% at $24.44 billion as against $24.90 billion in June last year. The drop in imports has raised concerns regarding growth in domestic economic activity.

The country’s trade deficit had widened during the month of June. The slowdown in manufacturing industry continues to hamper exports out of the country. The Commerce Ministry data indicates that the country’s exports declined for the seventh month in a row. The exports plunged by nearly 16% over the previous year to $22.28 billion in June ’15.Imports too dropped by 13.4% to $33.10 billion during the month. The imports during April-June ’15 dropped almost 13%, thereby marginally reducing the trade deficit to $32.2 billion as compared with $33.1 billion during the corresponding three-month period of the previous fiscal.