India's exports grew by 19.21 percent to $27.84 billion in August on account of healthy performance by sectors such as petroleum.

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"Export trade during August 2018 recorded at $27.84 billion, a positive growth of 19.21 per cent. Exports excluding petroleum also reported a positive growth of 17.43 per cent," union commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said in a tweet.

Merchandise imports too rose by 25.41 percent in August to $45.24 billion due to the rising crude oil prices, leaving a trade deficit of $17.4 billion.

In July, trade deficit soared to a near five-year high of $18.02 billion.

During April-August this fiscal, the exports recorded a growth of 16.13 percent, while the imports during the first five months of this fiscal grew by 17.34 percent.

In an interview to CNB-TV18, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic adviser, State Bank of India (SBI), said that decrease in oil imports may have played an important role in the drop of trade deficit for the month of August.

Ghosh said the bank was expecting a trade deficit of little higher than $18 billion.

First Published:Sept 12, 2018 2:08 PM IST