Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said that the Current Account Deficit (CAD) in the fiscal year 2013-14 will be contained at USD 70 billion.
Chidambaram, who made a statement on the Securities Laws Amendment Ordinance, 2013, in the Lok Sabha, said that cutting the import of gold and silver, oil and non-essential items would reduce the CAD in the coming fiscal year.
He added that measures to enhance the capital inflows in the country would be simultaneously undertaken.
These measures include allowing the public sector financial institutions to raise quasi-sovereign bonds to finance long-term infrastructure.
Additionally, the guidelines for External Commercial Borrowings, ECB, will be liberalized.
Moreover, the public sector oil companies will be allowed to raise additional funds through ECB and trade finance.
Chidambaram said that sustained efforts are needed to further contain the CAD, so as to reduce the volatility in the currency market to stabilize the rupee.
The contained CAD figure amounts to 3.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as against the 4.8 percent in 2012-13.
