Current account deficit shoots up in Q3 FY09

India's current account deficit surged to the highest in 18 years in the quarter ended December 2008 as the global financial-cum-economic crisis stifled trade as well as capital inflows, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. The current account deficit widened to US$14.64bn in the October-December quarter from a revised US$4.53bn a year earlier, the central bank said. It was also much higher than the US12.83bn deficit in the previous quarter. Also, the capital account balance turned negative during Q3 FY09 for the first time since Q1 of FY 1998-99 mainly due to net outflows under portfolio investment, banking capital and short-term trade credit, the RBI said. According to the balance of payments (BoP) data released by the RBI, the capital account balance saw an outflow of US$3.23bn as against an inflow of US$31.27bn during the third quarter of last year. The overall BoP - the country's external sector balance-sheet - witnessed a deficit of US$17.8bn compared to record surplus of US$26.7bn recorded in the corresponding period a year ago.