The Hindu : $1.3 b current account surplus in Q2

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 01, 2003

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$1.3 b current account surplus in Q2

MUMBAI DEC. 31. India's balance of payments showed an improvement with the total current account registering a net surplus of Rs. 6,520 crores ($1341 million) for the second quarter ended September 2002 compared to a deficit of Rs. 5,265 crores ($1114 million) in the same period of the previous fiscal.

The overall balance, which includes the current, capital accounts and errors and omissions, recorded a higher net surplus of Rs. 23,935 crores ($4925 million) in the July-September quarter (Rs. 2,283 crores — $483 million — in same period of last year), the Reserve Bank of India said in a release here today.

The merchandise component in the current account showed a net deficit of Rs. 18,745 crores in Q2 (net deficit of Rs. 17,992 crores) while invisibles recorded a higher net surplus of Rs. 25,265 crores (Rs. 12,727 crores), it said.

Services, which form a part of the invisibles, have a net surplus of Rs. 11,249 crores (Rs. 4,481 crores) but travel showed a deficit of Rs. 748 crores (Rs. 506 crore surplus), it added.

Foreign investment under the capital account, however, had a lower net surplus of Rs. 1,552 crores in the period under review (Rs. 5,555 crores), the apex bank said.

For the six months ended September, the net surplus in the total current account stood at Rs. 8,112 crores as against a deficit of Rs. 6,892 crores while the overall balance witnessed a net surplus of Rs. 32,088 crores (Rs. 9,140 crore surplus).

The net balance in invisibles rose to Rs. 41,812 crores (Rs. 28,603 crores) in the six months while merchandise recorded a net deficit of Rs. 33,700 crores (Rs. 35,495 crore deficit), the RBI added.

PTI

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