The taxes on 19 items, imports of which were valued at 860 billion rupees (RM49 billion) in the financial year ended March, will be effective Thursday, the finance ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

A current-account deficit at a five-year high is a key vulnerability for the economy and one of the reasons why the rupee has been the worst-hit in Asia amid an emerging-market rout this year.

The move follows similar steps taken by Indonesia – which also runs a current-account gap – to raise taxes on imports of luxury goods like cars to consumer products and delay import-heavy infrastructure projects.

While Indonesia’s rupiah has lost about 9% against the dollar this year, India’s rupee has dropped more than 12%, as rising oil prices push the nation’s trade deficit wider and fuel inflation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had asked ministries to finalise plans to reduce inbound shipments of electronic goods such as mobile-phone components and some petroleum products and capital goods, people familiar with the development said Tuesday.

The plan is to reduce imports of these items by 1.5% to 4%, the people said.

“That said, with the fiscal 2019 current-account deficit quite wide at US$88 billion (RM364 billion) or 3.2% of GDP, more efforts may still be needed including on the exports front to get the current account deficit into the comfort zone,” they said.