India's April-June current account surplus at 19.8 bln USD
Source: Xinhua | 2020-10-01
India recorded a current account surplus of 19.8 billion U.S. dollars in the April-June quarter compared to a deficit off 15 billion U.S. dollars in the same quarter last year, a statement by the country's Central Bank said Wednesday.
The current account surplus, that constituted 3.9 percent of the country's GDP, was due to a sharp contraction in the trade deficit to 10 billion U.S. dollars, as the merchandise imports in Asia's third largest economy declined sharply relative to exports over the previous year.
The big boost to the current account surplus ratio which is expressed as percentage of GDP came from the decline in nominal GDP by around 23 percent in April-June, which lowered the denominator, which combined with a higher numerator led to an impressive 3.9 percent ratio, said a note by domestic rating agency CARE.
Commenting on the sharp jump in current account surplus, Indian government's Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal said, "This is a reflection of demand compression and low oil prices."
In the past, India's import basket largely constituted of gold and oil imports.
In the preceding quarter of Jan-Mar, India posted a surplus of 0.6 billion U.S. dollar or 0.1 percent of GDP.
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