India's December trade deficit widens to $15.44 billion

Cargo containers are seen stacked outside the container terminal of JNPT in Mumbai

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's trade deficit in goods widened to $15.44 billion in December as imports rose to $42.59 billion, pushed by a surge in gold imports, while merchandise exports were up marginally, revised data released by the government on Friday showed.

The merchandise trade deficit was $12.49 billion in December 2019.

The merchandise exports rose 0.14% in December from a year earlier to $27.15 billion, the data showed.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Nidhi Verma, Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Catherine Evans)