Mumbai, March 31 : India’s current account deficit widened to USD 23 billion during the third quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal, mainly on account of higher trade deficit, data released by the Reserve Bank of India showed. As per the data, the CAD during October-December 2021 stood at USD 23 billion, which was 2.7 per cent of GDP as against the CAD of USD 2.2 billion (0.3 per cent of GDP) recorded in Q3 FY2021. In Q2 of FY2022, the current account deficit stood at USD 9.9 billion, which was 1.3 per cent of the GDP, it said. “The widening of CAD in Q3 FY2022 was mainly on account of higher trade deficit,” the apex bank said. RBI further said that India’s net services receipts increased, both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis, on the back of robust performance of net exports of computer and business services. As per the data, private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to USD 23.4 billion, an increase of 13.1 per cent from their level a year ago. “Net outgo from the primary income account, mainly reflecting net overseas investment income payments, increased sequentially as well as on a y-o-y basis,” the RBI said. In the financial account, net foreign direct investment recorded an inflow of USD 5.1 billion, lower than USD 17.4 billion a year ago, while the portfolio investment recorded net outflow of USD 5.8 billion as against an inflow of USD 21.2 billion in Q3 FY2021. As per the data, the net external commercial borrowings to India recorded outflow of USD 0.2 billion in Q3 FY2022 as compared with USD 1.6 billion a year ago. India’s non-resident deposits recorded net inflow of USD 1.3 billion as compared with USD 3 billion in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. “There was an accretion of USD 0.5 billion to the foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis) as compared with USD 32.5 billion in Q3 FY2021,” it said. The RBI noted that net claims of non-residents in India increased by USD 21.1 billion during October-December 2021 due to an increase of USD 16.2 billion in foreign-owned assets in India combined with a decline of USD 4.9 billion in Indian residents’ overseas financial assets. “Higher inward direct investment, trade credit and loans contributed to the increase in non-residents’ claims on India even as foreign portfolio investment in India reduced during the quarter,” the RBI said. According to the data, Indian residents’ overseas financial assets declined during the quarter, mainly due to reduction in currency and deposits, and reserve assets accounted for 68.4 per cent of Indian residents’ foreign assets. The share of debt liabilities in total liabilities increased marginally during the quarter and stood at 48.5 per cent in December 2021, while the ratio of India’s international financial assets to international financial liabilities stood lower at 72.1 per cent in December 2021. PSK GNK 1956