India cuts November gold imports data by $5 billion after calculation error

The commerce ministry has revised its November gold import figures downward by $5 billion to $9.84 billion, correcting an earlier calculation error that inflated the data to a record $14.86 billion, the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) data showed on Wednesday.

Kolkata-based DGCIS, an arm of the ministry of commerce, is responsible for collecting, compiling, and disseminating India’s trade statistics.

The revised data also reduces India’s trade deficit for November to $32.8 billion from the previously reported all-time high of $37.8 billion.

Last month, the ministry had reported a sharp, fourfold jump in gold imports for November, fueling a record trade deficit and raising concerns about its impact on the rupee, which hit an all-time low.

Reports suggested that the commerce ministry, after noticing the unusual surge, was examining if there were any calculation mistake in the compilation of the gold imports data for the month.

The error reportedly occurred due to a double-counting of gold shipments in warehouses, prompted by a methodological change in July, Bloomberg News reported.

The record trade deficit reported earlier was much higher than the $23.9 billion forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.