India’s Current Account Deficit Declines to USD 6.3 Billion From USD 19 Billion in Q2 of FY 2019-20, Says RBI Preliminary Data
The Reserve Bank on Tuesday issued a preliminary data on India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) for the second quarter (Q2) of FY 2019-20 and stated that country's Current Account Deficit (CAD) declined to USD 6.3 billion from USD 19.0 billion in Q2 of 2018-19.
Mumbai, December 31: The Reserve Bank on Tuesday issued a preliminary data on India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) for the second quarter (Q2) of FY 2019-20 and stated that country's Current Account Deficit (CAD) declined to USD 6.3 billion from USD 19.0 billion in Q2 of 2018-19.
According to the data released by the apex bank, there is an improvement in India's BoP for FY 2019-20 in comparison to FY 2018-19. RBI data says that contraction in the CAD was primarily on account of a lower trade deficit at USD 38.1 billion as compared with USD 50 billion a year ago. Also, the net foreign direct investment was USD 7.4 billion, almost same level as in Q2 of 2018-19. Year-Ender 2019 on RBI: Reserve Bank Does a 'Bull Jumper' Job to Stabilise Plunging Indian Economy; Here's a Round-Up of Central Bank's Key Decisions & Policies This Year.
Here are the screenshot of RBI data on BoP for FY 2019-20 on its website:
Apart from this, RBI said that the net flow on account of external commercial borrowings to India stood at USD 3.2 billion as compared with USD 2.0 billion in Q2 of 2018-19. Foreign portfolio investment (FII) too recorded net inflow of USD 2.5 billion as against an outflow of USD 1.6 billion in Q2 of 2018-19.
Another screenshots of RBI data on Foreign Exchange Reserves:
Among the major improvements in the RBI mentioned include an accretion of USD 5.1 billion to the foreign exchange reserves -- on BoP basis -- as against a depletion of USD 1.9 billion in Q2 of 2018-19. The RBI had mentioned that the rise in reserve assets, currency and deposits as well as overseas direct investments resulted in higher foreign assets of Indian residents.
Though there were numerous other decisions taken by the Reserve Bank of India to keep the wheels of Indian economy moving, amid crisis, let's keep it for another day to discuss. There were some tough decisions taken by the apex bank and some of them were questioned by economic experts, following which RBI said that they are looking into it.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 31, 2019 08:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).