India, Sept. 16 -- India's current account deficit widened to $7 billion in July from $3.2 billion a year ago, mainly due to a higher merchandise trade deficit, according to the Reserve Bank data released on Tuesday.

The preliminary data on India's balance of payments (BoP) for July 2026 released by the central bank showed that the merchandise trade deficit rose to $31.7 billion in July from $28.2 billion in the same month last year.

Imports increased to $76.8 billion from $65.6 billion, while exports rose to $45.1 billion from $37.4 billion.

On the other hand, there was improvement in net services surplus, which increased to $17.6 billion in July from $16.4 billion in the year-ago month. Services exports stood at $38.3 billion while i...