India Posts Smaller Current Account Deficit As Economy 'Normalises'

The deficit stood at 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product in the latest quarter, compared with a deficit of $2.6 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP, in the same period a year ago.

India's current account shifted to a small deficit of $1.7 billion in the October-December quarter from a surplus of $15.1 billion in July-September, the country's central bank said on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) attributed the change to a widening of the merchandise trade deficit and an increase in net investment income payments. The deficit stood at 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product in the latest quarter, compared with a deficit of $2.6 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP, in the same period a year ago, RBI data showed. India moved to a current account surplus for the first time in over a decade in the January-March quarter last year and touched a record $19.2 billion in the April-June quarter.