Bombay:
A widening trade gap pushed the country’s current account deficit to $36.4 billion or 4.4 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, according to data released today by the Reserve Bank. Bank are released.
India’s current account balance showed a $36.4 billion deficit in July-September 2022-23, up from $18.2 billion (2.2 percent of GDP) in the first quarter of the year fiscal year and $9.7 billion (1.3 percent of GDP) in the year-ago period.
“Underlying the current account deficit in Q2:2022-23 was the increase in the USD 83.5 billion trade deficit from USD 63 billion in Q1:2022-23 and an increase in net expenditures below investment income” , the RBI said.
It also said that the current account deficit for the April-June quarter of 2022-23 has been revised downwards due to a downward adjustment in customs data.
“India recorded a current account deficit of 3.3 percent of GDP in H1: 2022-23 due to a sharp rise in the trade deficit, compared to 0.2 percent in H1: 2021-22,” the RBI added. up to it.
Service exports posted a 30.2 percent year-on-year growth (yoy) on the back of rising exports of software, business and travel services. Net service revenues increased both sequentially and year-over-year.
Meanwhile, the RBI’s Financial Stability Report said steady net FDI inflows and the resumption of portfolio flows since July 2022 indicate that the CAD will be comfortably funded.
Net expenditures from the primary income account, mainly due to investment income payments, rose to $12 billion from $9.8 billion a year ago, according to a statement on “Developments in India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) during the second quarter (July-September) from 2022-23′.
“Receipts from private remittances, primarily remittances by Indians working abroad, totaled $27.4 billion, up 29.7 percent from a year ago level,” the statement added.
Also, net foreign portfolio investment recorded inflows of $6.5 billion, up from $3.9 billion in the second quarter of 2021-22.
At BoP in April-September 2022 (H1: 2022-23), it said net invisible revenue was higher year-over-year due to higher net receipts from services and private transfers.
Net FDI inflows of $20 billion in the first half of 2022-2023 compared to $20.3 billion in the comparable period of 2021-22. Portfolio investments posted net outflows of $8.1 billion versus $4.3 billion inflows in H1 of 2021-22.
In the first half of 2022-23, there was a $25.8 billion depletion of foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis).
Foreign exchange reserve depletion was $30.4 billion in the July-September quarter of 2022-23, versus an increase of $31.2 billion in the same period a year ago.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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