India's current account deficit widens to 2.8% of GDP in April-June
Mumbai (Maharashtra), September 29: The current account deficit (CAD) of India widened to $23.9 billion or 2.8% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the April-June period of the current fiscal year from $13.4 billion recorded in the previous quarter, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed on Thursday.
According to a statement from the RBI, India's current account balance recorded a deficit of $23.9 billion (2.8 per cent of GDP) in Q1:2022-23, up from US$ 13.4 billion (1.5 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2021-221 and a surplus of $6.6 billion (0.9 per cent of GDP) a year ago [i.e., Q1:2021-22].
The preliminary balance of payments (BoP) data for India for the first quarter (Q1), or April to June 2022–23, were released by the RBI on Thursday.
Underlying the current account deficit in Q1:2022-23 was the widening of the merchandise trade deficit to $68.6 billion from $54.5 billion in Q4:2021-22 and an upswing outgo of investment income payments.
Services exports rose y-o-y by 35.4 percent, led by broad-based growth in computer, business, transportation, and travel services.
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Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to $25.6 billion, a rise of 22.6 per cent from their level a year ago.
The income account's net outlay, which mainly reflects payments of investment income, increased from $7.5 billion to $9.3 billion in just one year.
Net foreign direct investment climbed to $13.6 billion in the financial account, up from $11.6 billion the previous year.
During Q1:2021-22, net foreign portfolio investment outflows were $14.6 billion, while net inflows were $0.4 billion.
Net external commercial borrowings to India were $3.0 billion in Q1:2022-23, compared to $0.2 billion the previous year. Non-resident deposits recorded net inflows of $0.3 billion as compared with $2.5 billion in the previous year.
There was an addition of $4.6 billion to the foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis) in Q1:2022-23 as compared with $31.9 billion in Q1:2021-22, the RBI data showed.
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-PTC News
