India's current account deficit more than doubles in Q2 FY18

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made public India's balance of payments (BoP) numbers on Wednesday that showed a sharp uptick in the country's current account deficit (CAD).

RBI said that India's CAD rose to $7.2 billion (1.2%) in the second quarter of 2017-18 as against $3.4 billion, or 0.6% of the GDP in thte same quarter of last year. The data further revealed that CAD narrowed sharply from $15 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (2.5% of the GDP). 

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is the sum total of all goods and services produced in a country in a given period.

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source: tradingeconomics.com

RBI said, "The widening of the CAD on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit ($32.8 billion) brought about by a larger increase in merchandise imports relative to exports."

Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to $17.4 billion, increasing by 14.7% from their level a year ago, RBI said.

Net foreign direct investment, at $12.4 billion in Q2 of 2017-18, moderated from its level in Q2 of 2016-17, it added.

Remmittances from Indians living abroad fell to $0.7 billion in Q2 of 2017-18, as against $ 2.1 billion a year ago.

source: tradingeconomics.com