India's current account deficit widens to 2.5 pct of GDP in Q3

MUMBAI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- India's current account deficit widened to 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in October-December, or the third quarter of the current fiscal year, from 2.1 percent in the corresponding quarter a year ago, said a release by the country's Central Bank - Reserve Bank of India on Friday.

In absolute terms, current account deficit or the gap between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange in the current account deficit was 16.9 billion U.S. dollars during the quarter, up from 13.7 billion U.S. dollars in the same period of the previous year.

The widening of the deficit was primarily attributed to a higher trade deficit at 49.5 billion U.S. dollars as compared with 44.0 billion U.S. dollars a year ago, the release said.