In July, India’s merchandise trade deficit was at $20.67 billion, based on export and import figures released by the government on Monday.

According to a Reuters survey, economists had forecasted a July trade deficit of $21 billion.

Merchandise exports were at $32.25 billion, whilst imports totalled $52.92 billion in July, government figures indicated. The previous month, merchandise exports amounted to $32.97 billion, whilst imports were at $53.10 billion.

Russia became the second-largest goods supplier to India from April to July, with exports doubling to $20.45 billion during this period, up from $10.42 billion in the same period the previous year, the data revealed.

India has been heavily purchasing Russian oil since the West sanctioned Moscow due to its incursion into Ukraine. This has elevated Russia from the 18th largest goods supplier to India prior to the conflict.

Despite a drop in imports to $32.70 billion from $34.55 billion, China continues to be the primary goods supplier to India.

In July, exports of services were $27.17 billion, whilst imports amounted to $14.85 billion. In June, service exports were at $27.12 billion and imports at $15.88 billion.

For the period from April to July, both services and merchandise exports declined roughly 6% year-on-year to $244.15 billion, while imports decreased by 11% to $272.41 billion.