MUMBAI: India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of $36.4 billion (4.4 per cent of GDP) in Q2 of 2022-23 (July-September), up from $18.2 billion (2.2 per cent of GDP)1 in Q1 (April-June), the RBI’s balance of payments (BoP) data showed on Thursday. The deficit was $9.7 billion (1.3 per cent of GDP) a year ago in the July-September quarter.
A current account deficit is when the total value of imports a country make exceeds the total value of exports. “Underlying the current account deficit in Q2:2022-23 was the widening of the merchandise trade deficit to $83.5 billion from $63.0 billion in Q1:2022-23 and an increase in net outgo under investment income”, the RBI said.
However, India’s services exports reported a growth of 30.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis on the back of rising exports of software, business and travel services. “Net services receipts increased both sequentially and on a y-o-y (year-on-year) basis”, the RBI said. (ANI)