India's CAD widens to $15.8 bn in Q1FY19; RBI blames higher trade deficit

RBI data revealed that the widening of CAD on yearly basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit at $45.7 billion as compared to $41.9 billion a year ago same period.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today presented India’s balance of payments (BoP) data for the first quarter of FY19, under which the country’s current account deficit (CAD) reached at $15.8 billion which is 2.4% of the GDP. This is marginally higher compared to the CAD of $15 billion about 2.5% of GDP in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The RBI data revealed that, the widening of CAD on yearly basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit at $45.7 billion as compared with $41.9 billion a year ago same period.

Meanwhile, net services receipts increased by 2.1 per cent on a y-o-y basis mainly on the back of a rise in net earnings from software and financial services. While private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to US$ 18.8 billion, increasing by 16.9 per cent from their level a year ago.

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Furthermore, in the financial account, net foreign direct investment at US$ 9.7 billion in Q1 of 2018-19 was higher than US$ 7.1 billion in Q1 of 2017-18.

Portfolio investment recorded net outflow of US$ 8.1 billion in Q1 of 2018-19 – as compared with an inflow of US$ 12.5 billion in Q1 last year – on account of net sales in both the debt and equity markets. Net receipts on account of non-resident deposits amounted to US$ 3.5 billion in Q1 of 2018-19 as compared with US$ 1.2 billion a year ago.

With this, RBI highlights that there was a depletion of US$ 11.3 billion of the foreign exchange reserves (on BoP basis) in Q1FY19 as against an accretion of US$ 11.4 billion in Q1FY18.

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