India’s current account deficit jumps 7-fold in April-June quarter

India’s current account deficit jumps 7-fold in April-June quarterSeptember 28, 2023Mumbai, Sep 28 (IANS) India’s current account deficit (CAD) jumped 7-fold to $9.2 billion in the April-June quarter compared to the corresponding figure of $1,3 billion in the preceding quarter, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on Thursday.”The widening of CAD on a quarter-on-quarter basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit coupled with a lower surplus in net services and decline in private transfer receipts,” the RBI said.”Net services receipts decreased sequentially, primarily due to a decline in exports of computer, travel and business services.”Merchandise trade deficit widened to $56.6 billion in the quarter, from $52.6 billion in the preceding quarter, but was less than the year-ago deficit of $63.1 billion.Private transfer receipts, which are mainly remittances by Indians employed overseas, moderated to $27.1 billion from $28.6 billion.CAD for April-June quarter of 2023-24 works out to 1.1 per cent of GDP while in January-March it was a mere 0.2 per cent of GDP.In April-June 2022, the figure stood at $17.9 billion, or 2.1 per cent of GDP.According to Emkay Global Financial Services lead economist Madhavi Arora, the July-September quarter will see a “substantial widening of CAD” on account of higher oil, higher core imports and further slowing of services exports.”All of this will imply July-September 2023 CAD/GDP ratio could be more than double of April-June 2023 – ranging from 2.4-2.6 per cent,” Arora said.Aditi Nayar, ICRA’s chief economist, also forecast a widening of the CAD to $19 billion-$21 billion, or 2.3 per cent of GDP, in July-September 2023.–IANSpannu/kskhttps://ians.in/detail/indias-current-account-deficit-jumps-7-fold-in-april-june-quarter–20230928144521/