Current Account Deficit Narrows To 0.6% Of GDP In September Quarter
Mumbai: The current account deficit (CAD) narrowed by more than a percentage point to 0.6 per cent of GDP at $3.4 billion in the July-September on account of lower trade deficit.
The July-September CAD is lower than $8.5 billion, or 1.7 per cent of GDP, in the same quarter of last fiscal.
It is, however, higher than $0.3 billion or 0.1 per cent recorded in the first quarter of the current fiscal. According to RBI data, private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to $15.2 billion, registering a decline by 10.7 per cent from the previous level a year ago.
"The contraction in the CAD on year-on-year basis was primarily on account of lower trade deficit ($25.6 billion) brought about by a larger decline in merchandise imports relative to exports," the RBI said in a statement.
Net services receipts moderated on annual basis, primarily owing to the fall in earnings from software, financial services and charges for intellectual property rights, it said.
"In the financial account, net inflows of both foreign direct investment and portfolio investment were significantly higher in the second quarter," it said.
Non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits also witnessed a 50 per cent decline to $2.1 billion from $4.2 billion in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
During the first 6 months of the current fiscal, the CAD narrowed to 0.3 per cent of GDP from 1.5 per cent in the same period a year ago on contraction in the trade deficit.
India's trade deficit narrowed to $49.5 billion in the first half from $71.6 billion in the same period previous fiscal.
Net FDI inflows during 6 months rose by more than 28.8 per cent over the level during the corresponding period of the previous year, it said, adding, portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of $8.2 billion as against a net outflow of $3.5 billion a year ago.
During the period ended September, there was an accretion of $15.5 billion to foreign exchange reserves.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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