Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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- India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of $36.4 billion (or a nine-year high of 4.4% of GDP) in the quarter ended September, rising from $18.2 billion (2.2%) in the previous quarter. Deficit for the year-earlier period came in at $9.7 billion (1.3%), according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday.
- Underlying the current account deficit (CAD) in Q2 was the widening of the merchandise trade deficit to $83.5 billion in Q2 from $63 billion in April-June and an increase in net outgo under investment income, the RBI said.
- In the first six months to September, India recorded a CAD of 3.3% of GDP, again on the back of a sharp increase in goods trade deficit, compared with 0.2% a year earlier.
- Net invisible receipts were higher in the first six months, year-on-year (y-o-y), due to higher net receipts of services and private transfers.
- Services exports in Q2 grew 30.2% y-o-y on rising software exports, business and travel services. Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose 29.7% to $27.4 billion.
- Net foreign direct investment slid to $6.4 billion from $8.7 billion. Net foreign portfolio investment in Q2 saw higher inflows of $6.5 billion compared with $3.9 billion a year earlier.
- ‘Q1 CAD revised down’
- Net external commercial borrowings clocked an outflow of $0.4 billion versus an inflow of $4.3 billion.
- Non-resident deposits saw net inflow of $2.5 billion versus net outflow of $0.8 billion.
- The CAD for the first quarter has been revised downwards from $23.9 billion (2.8% of GDP) due to downward adjustment in Customs data, the Reserve Bank said.
SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB
