India’s goods trade deficit widened to an all-time high of $41 billion, driven by a $14.7-billion gold import bill. Even after accounting for the services surplus, the monthly gap is the widest on record — raising questions about the sustainability of the current account at a time when exports remain under pressure and foreign fund outflows continue.

But economists are not revising the full-year current account deficit (CAD) forecasts just yet.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Anubhuti Sahay, Head of India Economic Research at Standard Chartered Bank, said the headline number was “clearly worrisome”, but the broader trajectory for the year still points to a CAD close to -1% of GDP.

While the spike in gold imports has drawn understandable attention, Sahay warned that the composition beneath the he

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