India's current account deficit climbs to a record breaking 6.7 per cent of GDP in the December quarter from 5.4 per cent in the second before, tending to push that of the entire year higher than 5 per cent - an alarming figure for a developing country like India. The high deficit, driven by heavy imports of oil and the yellow metal, raises many questions about the economic situation ahead. Experts, Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist and GM at Bank of Baroda; N S Venkatesh, chief general manager and head of treasury at IDBI Bank; Vikram Singh Mehta, former chairman of Shell Group of Companies- India; business economist Dr Brinda Jagirdar; Dr Arbind Prasad, director general of FICCI, and M K Venu, managing editor of The Financial Express, discuss the numbers explaining what steps need to be taken to rein in the deficit.
