<p class="bodytext">India's current account turned positive in the last quarter of the 2019/20 fiscal year as a result of a lower trade deficit and a sharp rise in net invisible receipts, the Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday, the first quarterly surplus in 13 years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The current account recorded a surplus of $600 million or 0.1% of Indian gross domestic product in the three months to March 2020 compared to a deficit of 0.7% in the same period a year ago, RBI data showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This represents the first time that India's quarterly current account, which measures the difference between the value of a country's imported and exported goods and services, has recorded a surplus since the January-March quarter of 2007.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The RBI data also showed the current account deficit (CAD) for the October-December quarter of 2019/20 was revised to $2.6 billion or 0.4% of GDP from $1.4 billion earlier.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"On paper this looks healthy but it primarily reflects India's economic slowdown, which has significantly reduced the non oil, non precious metals imports during FY20," Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at L&T Financial Holdings, said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For the year as a whole the CAD narrowed to 0.9% of GDP versus 2.1% in 2018/19, the data showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Net services receipts increased on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer, travel and financial services," the RBI said in a release.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, increased to $20.6 billion, up by 9.0% from their level a year ago," it added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The merchandise trade deficit narrowed slightly to $35 billion from $35.2 billion a year ago, RBI said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Balance of payments stood at a surplus of $18.8 billion in Q4 of 2019/20, compared with a surplus of $14.2 billion a year ago, the RBI data showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was an accretion of $59.5 billion to foreign exchange reserves in 2019/20, the RBI said. Forex reserves recently climbed to a record $507.6 billion before falling slightly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our forecast for a modest deficit could easily swing to a surplus if differential of global versus domestic economic activity widens, lending to slower recovery in core imports," Radhika Rao, an economist with DBS Bank said.</p>
<p class="bodytext">India's current account turned positive in the last quarter of the 2019/20 fiscal year as a result of a lower trade deficit and a sharp rise in net invisible receipts, the Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday, the first quarterly surplus in 13 years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The current account recorded a surplus of $600 million or 0.1% of Indian gross domestic product in the three months to March 2020 compared to a deficit of 0.7% in the same period a year ago, RBI data showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This represents the first time that India's quarterly current account, which measures the difference between the value of a country's imported and exported goods and services, has recorded a surplus since the January-March quarter of 2007.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The RBI data also showed the current account deficit (CAD) for the October-December quarter of 2019/20 was revised to $2.6 billion or 0.4% of GDP from $1.4 billion earlier.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"On paper this looks healthy but it primarily reflects India's economic slowdown, which has significantly reduced the non oil, non precious metals imports during FY20," Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at L&T Financial Holdings, said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For the year as a whole the CAD narrowed to 0.9% of GDP versus 2.1% in 2018/19, the data showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Net services receipts increased on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer, travel and financial services," the RBI said in a release.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, increased to $20.6 billion, up by 9.0% from their level a year ago," it added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The merchandise trade deficit narrowed slightly to $35 billion from $35.2 billion a year ago, RBI said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Balance of payments stood at a surplus of $18.8 billion in Q4 of 2019/20, compared with a surplus of $14.2 billion a year ago, the RBI data showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was an accretion of $59.5 billion to foreign exchange reserves in 2019/20, the RBI said. Forex reserves recently climbed to a record $507.6 billion before falling slightly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our forecast for a modest deficit could easily swing to a surplus if differential of global versus domestic economic activity widens, lending to slower recovery in core imports," Radhika Rao, an economist with DBS Bank said.</p>