New Delhi, July 16 -- India's goods trade deficit is projected to widen to USD 300 billion in FY26, up from USD 287 billion in FY25, as weak global demand weighs on exports while resilient domestic consumption is expected to fuel higher imports, as anticipated by ICICI Bank Global Markets in its latest report.

The report attributes the sluggish growth in merchandise exports largely to tepid demand from non-US markets. While shipments to the US have held up due to the front-loading of trade, exports to other key geographies have failed to gain momentum.

According to the trade data for June, India's goods deficit narrowed to a 4-month low of USD 18.8 billion from USD 21.9 billion in May This was driven by a lower non-oil non-gold deficit ...