Govt says steps taken to contain high current account deficit

07 Aug 2013 Evaluate

Concerned over the widening current account deficit (CAD) of the country, the government said that it has taken several steps to contain CAD, which had widened to a record high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in the previous fiscal. The minister of State for Finance Namo N Meena said that the high CAD mainly reflected widening of the trade deficit on account of subdued external demand and relatively inelastic imports of petroleum, oil, lubricants, gold, silver and lower invisible surplus.    

Namo N Meena said that in order to contain the high CAD, the government has taken a slew of initiatives to boost exports and reduce imports. Recently the government took measures to boost exports by increasing the interest subvention rate to 3 percent from 2 percent to benefit exporters in the small and medium enterprises segment and most labour-intensive sectors, it also widened the incremental exports incentivisation scheme and dollar-rupee swap facility. On the other hand, to reduce country’s imports, the government has raised duty on gold imports to 8 percent and inward shipments of the metal have been linked to their exports.

Further, the government has also taken steps to boost foreign investment into the country to facilitate the financing of CAD. It has allowed foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, telecom and civil aviation sectors and seeking legislative approval for increasing FDI cap in insurance and pension sectors. Meanwhile, FDI into India increased by 24.2 per cent to $3.95 billion in April-May period of 2013 from $3.18 billion received in the same period of previous year.

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