Current account deficit widens to 2.8% of GDP in Q1 FY23: RBI

Mumbai: India's current account deficit, an indicator of the balance of payment position, in the first quarter of the fiscal widened to 2.8 per cent of GDP at $23.9 billion, mainly on account of a higher trade deficit.

The current account had a surplus of $6.6 billion, equivalent to 0.9 per cent of GDP, in the first quarter (April-June) of 2021-22.

As per the data released by the Reserve Bank on India's Balance of Payments during the First Quarter (April-June) of 2022-23, the current account balance recorded a deficit of $23.9 billion (2.8 per cent of GDP) in the first quarter, up from $13.4 billion (1.5 per cent of GDP) in January-March period of the last fiscal.

"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 increase in net outgo of investment income payments," the RBI said.

It also said net services receipts increased, both sequentially and on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, on the back of rising exports of computer and business services.

The current account registers the export and imports of goods and services, and international transfers.

As per the RBI data, private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to $25.6 billion, an increase of 22.6 per cent from their level a year ago.

In the financial account, net foreign direct investment increased to $13.6 billion from $11.6 billion a year ago.

Net foreign portfolio investment recorded outflows of $14.6 billion against net inflows of $0.4 billion during the first quarter of 2021-22.

The RBI further said non-resident deposits recorded net inflows of $0.3 billion compared to $2.5 billion in the April-June quarter of 2021-22.

There was an accretion of $4.6 billion to the foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis) in the April-June quarter of 2022-23 compared to $31.9 billion in the year-ago

period.