Current a/c gap shoots up on oil imports

India's current account deficit widened to a new record in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, as a sharp jump in crude oil imports and a weak currency countered higher net invisible surplus. The shortfall in the current account, a broad measure of trade and investment flows, increased to US$12.54bn as against US$4.3bn in Q2 of 2007-08, and US$9.8bn in the previous quarter, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. The Capital Account had a surplus of US$7.8bn in Q2 2008-09 as against US$33.53bn in the same period last year, resulting in a BoP deficit of US$4.7bn for the second quarter versus a surplus of US$29.2bn in the year-ago period.