India's merchandise trade deficit at $20.67 bln in July

NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Indias merchandise trade deficit in July stood at $20.67 billion, according to a Reuters calculation based on export and import data released by the government on Monday.

Economists expected a July trade deficit of $21 billion, according to a Reuters poll.

Merchandise exports stood at $32.25 billion, while imports were $52.92 billion in July, government data showed. In the previous month, merchandise exports were $32.97 billion, while imports stood at $53.10 billion.

Services exports in July were $27.17 billion, while imports were $14.85 billion. In June, services exports were $27.12 billion and imports were $15.88 billion.

For the April-July period, services and merchandise exports fell about 6% year-on-year to $244.15 billion, while imports fell 11% to $272.41 billion.