Mumbai: India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to USD 7.4 billion in September 2026 from USD 5.2 billion in the year-ago month, mainly due to higher import bill, according to Reserve Bank data released Friday.
A current account deficit exists when a country spends more on imports than it receives in revenue from exports.
The merchandise trade deficit stood at USD 30 billion in September this fiscal, lower than USD 33.4 billion in the same month last year.
Merchandise imports increased to USD 75.3 billion from USD 69.8 billion, while exports rose to USD 45.3 billion from USD 36.4 billion.
Net receipts from services increased marginally to USD 19.2 billion from USD 18.8 billion in September last year, according to the Preliminary data on India’s balance of payments (BoP) for September 2026.
Services exports rose to USD 39.3 billion from USD 36.7 billion, while imports increased to USD 20.1 billion from USD 17.8 billion.
Net transfers declined to USD 10.9 billion from USD 11.5 billion during the month. The net outgo under the income account more than tripled to USD 7.6 billion from USD 2.2 billion in September 2025.
In April-September 2026-27, the deficit widened to USD 25.8 billion from USD 18 billion a year ago. The merchandise trade deficit increased to USD 176.1 billion from USD 158.1 billion as imports rose to USD 441.4 billion from USD 379.6 billion. Exports increased to USD 265.3 billion from USD 221.5 billion.
The data showed that net receipts from services rose to USD 105 billion during April-September 2026 from USD 98.8 billion in the year-ago period. Net transfers increased to USD 77.7 billion from USD 67.2 billion.
On the capital account front, net inflows stood at USD 16.2 billion in September against an outflow of USD 400 million in the same month last year.
Foreign portfolio investment recorded a net outflow of USD 6.7 billion during September, higher than USD 600 million a year ago. Net foreign direct investment outflow increased to USD 4.9 billion from USD 2.3 billion.
Banking capital recorded net inflow of USD 22.2 billion during the month, compared with USD 700 million in September 2025. Of this, net inflows through non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits stood at USD 3.7 billion against USD 400 million a year ago.
The overall balance of payments recorded a surplus of USD 8.8 billion in September, compared with a deficit of USD 5.6 billion in the year-ago month.
For April-September 2026, the overall balance recorded a surplus of USD 66.8 billion, against a deficit of USD 6.4 billion in the corresponding period last year.
