CAD widens to 2.5% of GDP in October-December quarter on higher trade deficit: RBI data

Mumbai: The country’s current account deficit widened to 2.5 percent of GDP in the third quarter of the current fiscal from 2.1 percent a year ago, primarily on account of a higher trade deficit, the RBI said on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_4292949” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. News 18.[/caption] In absolute terms, the CAD, or the gap between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange in the current account, was $16.9 billion in the October-December 2018 period, up from $13.7 billion in the year-ago period. The deficit, however, had moderated to $19.1 billion or 2.9 percent of GDP in the preceding quarter (July-September). “The widening of the CAD (current account deficit) on a year-on-year basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit at $49.5 billion as compared with $44.0 billion a year ago,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement. The CAD increased to 2.6 percent of GDP during the April-December 2018 period, from 1.8 percent in April-December 2017 on the back of widening of the trade deficit.