Mumbai: India recorded a current account surplus of $5.7 billion or 0.6 per cent of GDP in the March quarter, the Reserve Bank of India said Monday.
In the year-ago period, the current account deficit stood at $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP, and the same was $8.7 billion or 1 per cent of GDP in the preceding quarter ending December 2023.
For FY24, the current account deficit narrowed to $23.2 billion or 0.7 per cent of GDP against $67 billion or 2 per cent of GDP in FY23, the RBI said in a release on the Developments in India’s Balance of Payments.
In January-March 2024, the merchandise trade deficit stood at $50.9 billion, lower than the $52.6 billion a year ago.
Net services receipts at $42.7 billion were higher than the $39.1 billion on the back of a 4.1 per cent growth in the segment, the central bank said, adding that this helped in swinging the current account into the surplus territory.
Net outgo on the primary income account, mainly reflecting payments of investment income, increased to $14.8 billion from $12.6 billion a year ago, the data released by the RBI said.
Private transfer receipts, which mainly represent remittances by Indians employed overseas, grew 11.9 per cent to $32 billion in the March quarter.
The non-resident deposits also surged to $5.4 billion in January-March compared to $3.6 billion in the year-ago period.
Net foreign direct investment flows were $2 billion in Q4 FY24 against $6.4 billion a year ago.
Foreign portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of $11.4 billion during the quarter compared to a net outflow of $1.7 billion a year ago.
Net inflows under external commercial borrowings to India were $2.6 billion against $1.7 billion.
In FY24, the portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of $44.1 billion against an outflow of $5.2 billion a year ago, while net FDI plummeted to $9.8 billion from $28 billion in FY23, the RBI said.
PTI