Summary India's current account deficit widened in the April-June quarter as imports rose and exports fell.
MUMBAI (AFP) - India s current account deficit widened in the April-June quarter as imports rose and exports fell, data showed Monday, spelling more bad news for the country s ailing currency.
The deficit expanded to $21.8 billion, or 4.9 percent of gross domestic product, against $16.9 billion a year earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement on its website.
"The trade deficit in the Q1 of 2013-14 increased due to a rise in imports and some decline in merchandise exports," the RBI said.
India s current account deficit, the broadest measure of trade, is so large that foreign capital is required to finance the gap, at a time when the country is facing economic growth at decade-lows.
Exacerbated by hefty imports of oil, coal and gold, the deficit has been one of the main factors leading to the depreciation of the rupee.
The currency hit a series of lifetime lows in July and August, before making a recovery in recent weeks.
The rupee ended trade Monday at 62.60 to the dollar, a 14 percent drop from the start of 2013.
Analysts expect the current account deficit to fall in coming months owing to a rise in the import duty on gold imports and improved exports due to the stronger dollar.
Finance minister P. Chidambaram has promised that the country s deficit for the year to March 2014 will be kept at $70 billion, against a level of $88 billion last year.
