India records 0.2% CAD in Dec quarter

Mumbai: INDIA's current account deficit narrowed to $1.7 billion or 0.2 per cent of the GDP in the December quarter as against $2.6 billion or 0.4 per cent of GDP in the year-ago period, according to data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday.

In the current fiscal, the current account had been in surplus in the previous two quarters, at $15.1 billion and $19 billion, respectively, as per the data. The critical metric of the country's external strength now stands at a surplus of 1.7 per cent of GDP for the first nine months of the fiscal year as against a deficit of 1.2 per cent in the year-ago period. In the December quarter, there was a rise in the merchandise trade deficit to $34.5 billion from $14.8 billion in the preceding quarter, and an increase in net investment income payments, RBI said.

Centre's fiscal deficit at 76% of RE during Apr-Feb: CGA

The central government's fiscal deficit at the end of February worked out to be 76 per cent of the revised estimate, indicating that it is likely to remain within the projections made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The minister had revised the fiscal deficit projections for 2020-21 to Rs 18.48 lakh crore or 9.5 per cent of the GDP from the original budget estimate of Rs 7.96 lakh crore or 3.5 per cent of the GDP, mainly on account of additional outgo to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the fiscal deficit at the end of February stood at Rs 14.05 lakh crore or 76 per cent of the revised estimates.