India's current account deficit or trade deficit will likely widen further to reach a record level of $193-196 billion this fiscal, Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Friday.

Speaking at the Board of Trade (BoT) meeting yesterday, Mr. Sharma said admitted that the country's exports might not be able to reach the previous year's level of $306 billion this year.

Expressing concerns over the adverse balance of trade, Mr. Sharma said, "We are looking at the (export) numbers and what is very disturbing and challenging is that we have not even reached where we were before (in 2011-12), $306 billion."

The country's exports fell 4 per cent to $265.95 billion in the eleven months to February this financial year, while imports jumped 0.25 per cent to $448 billion during the same period.

In the first eleven months of current financial year, the country's trade deficit was at $182 billion, slightly lower than $185 billion in the previous twelve years.

The current financial year is going to be the year since the global economic slump of 2008 when the country's exports would see a decline from the previous year.

The Minister said the soaring trade deficit would become challenging as it would directly affect CAD, which in turn would put pressure on the country's currency.