India: Current account deficit likely to stay at $35bn in 2013-14

The Current Account Deficit (CAD) is likely to be USD 35 billion in 2013-14, from a record high of USD 88 billion previous year, India''''s Finance Minister P Chidambram announced during a media conference here in New Delhi."India''''s forex reserves have crossed USD 300 billion. We have successfully contained fiscal deficit and current account deficit," Chidambaram said."We will consider some relaxation on gold import in consultation with Reserve Bank of India after monetary policy," he said.The CAD has been blamed as the main cause for shuddering of the Indian economy with the Indian rupee falling to an all time low last year.The finance minister further stated that Indian economy is more stable than it was 20 months back."The economy today is far more stable and far stronger than it was 20 months ago," he said, adding, "Nobody is talking about downgrades today".