India's July-September current account deficit more than doubles

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's July-September current account deficit more than doubled from a year earlier after imports accelerated while crude prices surged, data published by the Reserve Bank of India showed on Wednesday.

The July-September current account deficit (CAD) widened to 1.2 percent of gross domestic product, or $7.2 billion. That was wider than the 0.6 percent or $3.4 billion in the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, the trade deficit widened to $32.8 billion in the previous quarter from $25.6 billion a year ago.

"The widening of the CAD on a year-on-year basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit brought about by a larger increase in merchandise imports relative to exports," the RBI said in the release.

Going ahead the current account deficit is expected to widen and end the fiscal year ending in March at 1.7-2.0 percent of GDP, analysts estimated, as oil and other global commodity prices continue to gain, while exports remain stable.

Despite a wider current account deficit, India's balance of payments posted a surplus of $9.5 billion in July-September compared with $8.5 billion a year ago, helped by a stronger capital account.

The capital account surplus, which includes foreign direct investment and portfolio inflows, was at $6.9 billion in the September quarter compared with $4.3 billion a year ago.

(Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Editing by Rafael Nam)