India's merchandise trade deficit at $24.16 billion in August

NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Indias merchandise trade deficit in August was wider than expected and stood at $24.16 billion, according to a Reuters calculation based on export and import data released by the government on Friday.

Economists expected August trade deficit to be at $21 billion, according to a Reuters poll.

Indias merchandise exports stood at $34.48 billion, while imports were $58.64 billion in August, government data showed. In the previous month, merchandise exports were $32.25 billion, while imports stood at $52.92 billion.

Services exports in August were $26.39 billion, while imports were $13.86 billion. In July, services exports were $27.17 billion and imports were $14.85 billion.

For the April-August period, services and merchandise exports fell about 5% year-on-year to $306.33 billion, while imports fell about 10% to $343.81 billion.