BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

A widening trade deficit and foreign fund outflows strained India's external accounts in FY26 despite robust growth in services exports and remittance inflows

India recorded a current account surplus of USD 4.7 billion in April as against a deficit of USD 4.8 billion in the year-ago month, on the back of higher services exports and net transfer receipts, according to Reserve Bank data released on Monday. The imports bill was at USD 72.5 billion, up from USD 65.8 billion, while exports stood at USD 44.6 billion compared to USD 38.7 billion, according to preliminary data on India's Balance of Payments (BoP). The merchandise trade deficit stood at USD 27.9 billion in April 2026, marginally higher than USD 27.1 billion in April 2025. Net services receipts increased to USD 18.6 billion during April from USD 15.9 billion in April 2025. Services exports stood at USD 37 billion, while imports were USD 18.4 billion. Net transfers increased to USD 16 billion in April 2026 from USD 9.4 billion a year earlier, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. On the capital account, India recorded a net outflow of USD 11.3 billion in April 2026 as against

Let us hope that 2026-27 will remind us of 1991-92, when economic policy shifted from increased foreign and domestic borrowing to implementing serious policy reforms

Strong services exports and record remittance inflows helped India record a current account surplus of $7.1 billion in the March quarter despite continued capital outflows

A surge in oil prices following the Iran ​conflict and selling of Indian stocks by foreign investors are likely to widen ​the BoP deficit this financial year

The concluding part of a series explores why India's medium-term real growth prospects are less robust than what the headline GDP numbers indicate

The first of a two-part series explores the underlying causes of India's balance of payments issue, and offers some solutions

From Bharti Airtel's succession planning and AI-driven cyber risks to the economic fallout of the West Asia conflict and India's investment needs - here are today's top opinion pieces

As oil and gold imports raise dollar demand, terms such as BoP, current account deficit and forex reserves are back in focus. Here is why they matter for the rupee

India's economy is projected to grow at 6.6 per cent in 2026-27 fiscal while a comprehensive package is required on the Balance of Payments (BoP) front amid rupee depreciation and higher oil price, an SBI Research report said on Monday. The report said the rupee, which has weakened much in the recent period "through clouds on external macros, as also unabated speculative forces" needs structural changes on BoP front, stream lining the guard rails of import substitution, export competitiveness, integration in global value chain. The rupee has breached the 95-mark against the US dollar that has strengthened due to rising global uncertainties, triggered by the West Asia conflict. "There is now a felt need to put in place a comprehensive package to address Balance of Payments (BoP)," SBI Research said and made a strong case for diaspora bonds. With the country's macro fundamental getting distorted as Brent crude prices hover above USD 100, and transport and insurance costs spiking, the

From India's FTA strategy and Sun Pharma's global ambitions to LPG shortages, West Asia risks and Asean ties, here are the key insights from today's Opinion page

A prolonged conflict in the region can be detrimental to the economy, placing pressure on inflation, exchange rate, trade and capital flows, the balance of payments, and the current account deficit

Merchandise exports grew in the first three weeks of Nov, Piyush Goyal said after a Board of Trade meeting that reviewed tariff challenges, export incentives and ongoing trade talks with key partners

This happened because there was capital outflow of around $27 billion on a net basis between October-December against a net inflow of $36 billion during July-September in FY25

BoP witnesses depletion of $37.7 billion

Merchandise trade deficit for March was $14.05 billion, compared with economists' forecast of $21.65 billion

The merchandise trade deficit increased to $75.3 billion in Q2 of 2024-25 from $64.5 billion during the same period last year

Credit rating agency Acuite Ratings & Research on Monday said it has revised its forecast of India's current account deficit to $68 billion from $106 billion and the balance of payments deficit to $17 billion from $38 billion earlier.

Underlying the lower CAD in Q3FY23 was the narrowing of merchandise trade deficit to $72.7 bn from $78.3 billion in Q2FY23, coupled with robust services and private transfer receipts, RBI said

The foreign bank expects current account balance to slip into a deficit of 3% of gross domestic product this financial year from a surplus of 0.9% last year