NEW DELHI (MarketWatch) — India’s trade deficit in April widened more than 70% from March as imports of gold and silver shot up over twofold, eclipsing an improvement in exports.

The deficit widened to $17.8 billion USDINR, -0.00% from $10.31 billion in March. The gap was $14.0 billion in April last year, government data showed Monday.

Imports in April rose 10.9% from a year earlier to $41.95 billion. That was mainly because of a sharp increase in the imports of gold and silver — India imported $7.5 billion worth of gold and silver in the past month, compared with $3.1 billion in the year-earlier period.

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Merchandise exports rose 1.6% to $24.16 billion in April, the fourth straight month when they increased.

Demand for gold in India, the world’s largest consumer, has increased lately following a steep fall in its price, which hit a two-year low globally in mid-April. Demand rose despite the government’s efforts to reduce the metal’s imports through steps such as higher import tax.

Gold imports have been a major contributor to the South Asian economy’s current-account deficit that widened to a record 6.7% of gross domestic product in the October-December quarter, the latest period for which the figure is available.

“The rise in gold imports is surprising,” Trade Secretary S.R. Rao told reporters at a press conference Monday. “It wasn’t expected,” Rao added.