India's current account deficit in July-Sept rises sharply to 4.4% of GDP

The net outgo from the primary income account, mainly reflecting payments of investment income, increased to $12 billion from $9.8 billion a year ago

India’s current account deficit (CAD) shot up to an all-time high of $36.4 billion, about 4.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), in the quarter ended September 2022 (Q2FY23), owing to a widening of the merchandise trade gap.

According to Bloomberg data, the previous highest CAD in absolute terms was $31.8 billion in the quarter ended December 2012 (Q3FY13).

The CAD was $18.2 billion (2.2 per cent of GDP) in the first quarter ended June 2022 (Q1FY23) and $9.7 billion (1.3 per cent of GDP) a year ago (Q2FY22), said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a statement.

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