New Delhi, 27 June (IANS). According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, India recorded a $ 13.5 billion current account surplus in the fourth quarter of FY 2024-25 (January-March), which is 1.3 percent of the GDP.
The strong performance has reversed the current account deficit of $ 11.3 billion (1.1 percent of GDP) in the last third quarter (October-December) of 2024–25. It also shows an increase of more than two times the surplus of $ 4.6 billion (0.5 percent of GDP) in the same quarter last year.
RBI said India’s current account deficit for 2024-25 was $ 23.3 billion (0.6 percent of GDP), which was less than $ 26 billion (0.7 percent of GDP) during 2023-24.
Pure invisible receipts during 2024–25 due to services and personal transfer were higher than a year ago. RBI data suggests that while the goods exported, the fourth quarter (January-March) was due to the surplus strong service export and low net expenditure on primary income account.
In the same quarter of the previous year, net service receipts increased to $ 53.3 billion in the fourth quarter of $ 42.7 billion to $ 53.3 billion.
The RBI said that service exports in major categories like commercial services and computer services have increased year after-year basis. Pure expenditure on primary income account, which mainly reflects the payment of investment income, decreased from $ 14.8 billion in the same quarter of 2023-24 to $ 11.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024-25.
Personal transfer receipts, mainly representing the funds sent by Indians working abroad, increased to $ 33.9 billion in the January-March quarter of 2024–25, to $ 31.3 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
In the financial account, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) recorded a net flow of $ 0.4 billion in January-March, while the same period of 2023–24 had a flow of $ 2.3 billion.
The Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) recorded a net outflow of $ 5.9 billion in the fourth quarter, while the same quarter of the previous year had a net flow of $ 11.4 billion. According to the RBI statement, the net flow under external commercial borrowings (ECB) in India stood at $ 7.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024–25, compared to $ 2.6 billion in the same period a year ago.
The fourth quarter of 2024–25 recorded a net flow of $ 2.8 billion in the non-resident deposit (NRI deposit), less than $ 5.4 billion a year ago.
The fourth quarter of 2024–25 increased by $ 8.8 billion in foreign exchange reserves (on BOP basis), while the fourth quarter of 2023–24 increased by $ 30.8 billion in the fourth quarter.
The net flow of $ 1.0 billion under FDI during 2024-25 was less than $ 10.2 billion during 2023-24. The RBI statement said that the FPI recorded a net flow of $ 3.6 billion during the year, which is less than $ 44.1 billion a year ago.
-IANS
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