Crude oil price spike not a worry for fisc as yet

CAD may be a minor problem; only excise duty cut to impact govt revenue

With crude oil crossing $64 a barrel on the developments in Saudi Arabia, this country’s current account deficit (CAD) could see a little more pressure. 

However, the expectation is that this could be financed easily, as capital flows, particularly on the debt side, are robust and will not trigger huge withdrawal from the foreign exchange reserves. These had widened to a four-year high of 2.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of the current financial year.

There should not, say those in the know, be a problem until the crude oil price breaches $65 a