Current account deficit likely to be at 4% in Q4 FY13: Rajan

Current account deficit touched a record high of 6.7% in the October-December quarter on the back of rising oil and gold imports

The country's Current Account Deficit (CAD) for the fourth quarter of financial year 2012-13 is likely to be around 4% of the gross domestic product, Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan today said.

"CAD for the fourth quarter of the last fiscal is likely to be around 4%," Rajan told reporters here.

The CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign currency, touched a record high of 6.7% in the October-December quarter on the back of rising oil and gold imports.

Current account deficit is likely to be around 5% for the entire 2012-13 fiscal year.

India's gold imports dropped by 5.7% to 215 tonnes in the January-March period of 2013, even as its demand rose by 27% to 256.5 tonnes, World Gold Council (WGC) had said in its report last month.

Gold imports from India, the world's largest consumer, stood at 860 tonnes in 2012.

Last month, the RBI had imposed curbs on import of the yellow metal by banks. Besides, it has also put restrictions on banks and NBFCs for providing loans against gold coins as well as units of gold ETFs.

The government has also taken steps like hiking import duty to restrict gold imports.