Outward remittances under LRS dips 2% in April, says RBI bulletin

According to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bulletin, the remittances under the scheme stood at $2.28 billion in April 2024, 1.98 per cent below $2.33 billion in April 2023

Outward remittances under Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) dipped nearly 2 per cent in April 2024 from the year-ago period on the back of a drop in maintenance of close relatives and deposits.

According to the latest RBI bulletin, remittances under the scheme stood at $2.28 billion in April 2024, 1.98 per cent below $2.33 billion in April 2023.

During the reported month, remittances for the maintenance of close relatives dropped to $391.69 million compared to $449.38 million in the year-ago period.

Deposit-related remittances declined by 29.7 per cent to $72.67 million from April 2023. The 'gifts' segment dropped 8.43 per cent to $311.16 million. 

Remittances under the largest component — international travel — grew by 4.04 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to $1.14 billion.

Similarly, investment in equity and debt investment rose by 20 per cent to $98.94 million Y-o-Y, cushioning the overall decline in remittances.

In April, remittances by Indians under the LRS scheme for overseas education slipped marginally to $208.02 million.

Overall remittances hit a new high of $31.73 billion in FY24, on the back of robust growth in the international travel segment.

The LRS scheme was introduced in 2004, allowing all resident individuals to remit up to $250,000 per financial year for any permissible current or capital account transaction, or a combination of both, free of charge.

In the initial phase, the scheme was introduced with a limit of $25,000 and this was revised gradually.