India's Q1FY26 current account deficit at $2.4 bn versus $8.6 bn a year ago

Reserve Bank of India

India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of $ 2.4 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP in first quarter of the current financial year, as with $8.6 billion or 0.9 per cent of GDP in Q1FY25 and against a surplus of $13.5 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP in Q4FY25, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data.

Merchandise trade deficit stood at $68.5 billion in Q1FY26, which was higher than $63.8 billion in Q1FY25.

Net services receipts increased to $47.9 billion in Q1FY26 from $39.7 billion a year ago. Services exports have risen on a year-on-year basis in major categories such as business services and computer services.

Net outgo on the primary income account, primarily reflecting payments of investment income, increased to $12.8 billion in Q1FY26 from $10.9 billion in Q1FY25, RBI data showed.

Personal transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to $33.2 billion in Q1FY26 from $28.6 billion in Q1FY25.

In the financial account, foreign direct investment (FDI) recorded a net inflow of $ 5.7 billion in Q1FY26 as compared to a net inflow of $6.2 billion a year ago.

Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) recorded a net inflow of $1.6 billion in Q1FY26 as compared to a net inflow of $0.9 billion in Q1FY25.