Modi govt's import move not much help on current account deficit

Centre's strategy on cutting imports of non-essential items unlikely to have a significant impact, say experts

On Friday, the NDA government announced a five-pronged approach to boost capital inflows into the country to finance the rising current account deficit (CAD). It also announced its intention to curb imports of non-essential commodities, presumably by tinkering with the duty structure.

While the former measures may boost capital flows, the latter is unlikely to make a significant dent in the country’s CAD, experts Business Standard spoke to said.

Part of the problem can be traced to the changing composition of India’s trade deficit over the past few years, where gains made by the decline in the gold deficit have been offset