Mumbai. The country's current account surplus was 0.6 percent ($5.7 billion) of GDP in the March quarter due to strong growth in service exports and remittance earnings. The current account deficit was $1.3 billion or 0.2 percent of GDP in the year-ago period and $8.7 billion or 1 percent of GDP in the previous quarter ending December 2023.

Current deficit rises to $23.2 billion in FY 2023-24

The RBI said the current account deficit narrowed from $67 billion, or two per cent of GDP, in FY2022-23 to $23.2 billion, or 0.7 per cent of GDP, in FY2023-24. The merchandise trade deficit stood at $50.9 billion in the March quarter of the previous fiscal, down from $52.6 billion in the same period a year ago. The central bank said the country's net service receipts stood at $42.7 billion, up from $39.1 billion a year ago, with this segment growing by 4.1 per cent. This helped bring the current account into a surplus position.

Acceleration of payment of investment income

According to data released by the RBI, net outflow on primary income account, which mainly reflects payment of investment income, rose to $14.8 billion from $12.6 billion a year ago.

Private transfer receipts, mainly reflecting remittances from Indians working abroad, rose 11.9 per cent to $32 billion during this period. Deposits of Indians living abroad also rose to $5.4 billion in January-March, compared to $3.6 billion in the same period a year ago.

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows stood at $2 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 2023-24, as against $6.4 billion a year ago. During this period, there was a net inflow of $11.4 billion in foreign portfolio investment as against $1.7 billion a year ago.