CAD triples to record high of 4.5% of GDP in Q4 of 2011-12

In 2011-12, CAD -- which represents the difference between exports and imports after considering cash remittances and payments -- stood at 4.2 per cent of GDP at USD 78.2 billion, as against the government's estimate of 4 per cent.

"On account of large trade deficit, the CAD rose sharply to USD 21.7 billion in Q4 from USD 6.3 billion in Q4 of 2010-11. At this level, CAD worked out 4.5 per cent of GDP (the highest ever) in Q4 of 2011-12 as compared with 1.3 per cent a year ago," RBI said while releasing the Balance of Payment (BoP) statement today.

The CAD, according to RBI, "widened to the highest ever level both in absolute terms and as a proportion of GDP." It was USD 46 billion or 2.7 per cent of the GDP in 2010-11.

Commenting on the data global financial services firm Nomura said, "the outlook for net capital inflows depends as much on the domestic pull factors (investment climate and growth outlook) as on the global push factors."

Recent statements from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding reforms, it added, "have been positive, but concrete action on this front is still needed to reverse India