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Minister of State for Finance -- (MoS) Pankaj Chaudhary has said the government is aware of the downside risks to the Indian economy and will closely monitor the current account deficit (CAD) in view of the decline in export growth. Further, Chaudhary said the government has implemented several measures to limit the impact of external factors on India’s inflation and growth.

He stated the price situation of major essential commodities is monitored by the Central Government on a regular basis and corrective action is taken from time to time. Several supply-side measures have been taken by the government to address inflation, like cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel, prohibition of export of wheat products, imposition of export duty on rice, reduction in import duties and cess on pulses, maintenance of buffer stock for onion and pulses.

Besides, he said ‘In the second half of 2022-23, retail inflation has fallen below the tolerance ceiling, portfolio investments have started to return, the rupee has stabilized against the US Dollar, but export growth has declined with the slowing of global growth. The current account deficit thus needs to be closely monitored.’

The country's current account deficit, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, widened to 4.4 per cent of the GDP in the quarter ending September, from 2.2 per cent of the GDP during the April-June period due to a higher trade gap. India's exports contracted by 12.2 per cent to $34.48 billion in December 2022 due to the global demand slowdown, and the trade deficit widened to $23.76 billion during the same period.