Expectedly, the trade deficit has expanded briskly; by $131 billion in the first 10 months of 2017-18 against $88 billion in the same period last year, raising fresh fears of a widening current account deficit just as oil prices have start hardening. On the basis of the first 10 months’ performance, India is likely to end the financial year with a modest 8 per cent export growth over 2016-17. While this is an improvement over 5 per cent growth in 2016-17, yet it keeps India in the $300-odd billion range achieved three years ago.