Current account surplus moderates to $15.5 bn

A current account deficit of $7.6 billion or 1.1 per cent of the GDP was recorded in the second quarter of 2019-20.

Mumbai: India’s current account surplus moderated to $15.5 billion or 2.4 per cent of the GDP in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal. Current account records the value of exports and imports of both goods and services and international transfers of capital. The same was at $19.2 billion or 3.8 per cent of the GDP in the preceding three months on account of a rise in the merchandise trade deficit, the RBI said on Wednesday.

A current account deficit of $7.6 billion or 1.1 per cent of the GDP was recorded in the second quarter of 2019-20.India recorded a current account surplus of 3.1 per cent of the GDP in the first half of the fiscal as against a deficit of 1.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2019-20. This was mainly on account of a sharp contraction in the trade deficit.

The narrowing of the current account surplus in the second quarter of 2020-21 was due to a rise in the merchandise trade deficit to $14.8 billion from $10.8 billion in the preceding quarter, the central bank said.