FY18 deficit widens to 1.9%
India talks to China about oil buyers club to counter Opec
Mumbai, June 13: The current account deficit (CAD) jumped over three times to $48.7 billion, or 1.9 per cent of the country’s GDP, in FY18 from $14.4 billion or 0.6 per cent in the previous year, driven by higher trade deficit, RBI said on Wednesday.
For the March quarter, CAD, which is the difference between forex receipts and payments, rose manifold to over $13 billion, or 1.9 per cent of GDP, from a low $2.6 billion, or 0.9 per cent, in the year-ago period, RBI said.
In the December quarter, the deficit stood at a higher 2.1 per cent. CAD is a keenly watched space that signifies the strength of an economy from an external sector point of view and also influences the currency markets. — PTI New Delhi, June 13: With oil producers’ cartel Opec playing havoc with prices, India discussed with China the possibility of forming an ‘oil buyers club’ that can negotiate better terms with sellers as well as getting more US crude oil to Asia to cut dominance of the block.
As a follow up of Dharmendra Pradhan’s idea floated at the International Energy Forum (IEF) meeting here in April, Indian Oil chairman Sanjiv Singh travelled to Beijing this month to meet Wang Yilin, chairman of China National Petroleum, a source said.
On discussion table was debottlenecking infrastructure to facilitate more US crude oil comes to Asia so as to cut the dominance of Opec, which supplies about 60 per cent of India’s oil needs. Production cuts by Opec have led to international oil prices hitting a four year high last month that forced a `3.8 per litre hike in petrol and `3.38 a litre increase in diesel prices.
Rates started to cool towards month end and retail prices have been cut thereafter.