India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to USD 1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP in the January-March quarter of FY23, mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports, RBI data showed on Tuesday.
“India’s CAD decreased to USD 1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2022-23 from USD 16.8 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP) in Q3:2022-231, and USD 13.4 billion (1.6 per cent of GDP) a year ago,” the Reserve Bank said.
CAD is a key indicator of the balance of payment of a country.
The sequential decline in CAD in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal was mainly on account of a moderation in the trade deficit to USD 52.6 billion from USD 71.3 billion in the preceding quarter, coupled with robust services exports.
Net services receipts increased, sequentially and on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer services, the RBI said.
There was an accretion to the foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis) to the tune of USD 5.6 billion against depletion of USD 16.0 billion in Q4 2021-22.
For fiscal 2022-23, the current account balance recorded a deficit of 2 per cent of GDP compared to a deficit of 1.2 per cent in 2021-22, as the trade deficit widened to USD 265.3 billion from USD 189.5 billion a year ago.
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