Balance of Payments (BoP)
Structure and Components
The Balance of Payments is a systematic record of all economic transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world during a given period (typically a quarter or year). India's BoP is compiled and published quarterly by the Reserve Bank of India. The BoP has two main accounts:
Current Account — records: - Merchandise trade (goods exports and imports) - Invisibles: Services (IT, travel, transport), Income (interest, dividends), and Transfers (remittances, grants) - India typically runs a goods deficit offset partly by a services surplus and large remittance inflows.
Capital Account (Financial Account in IMF terminology) — records: - Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) — inflows and outflows - Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) — equity and debt - External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) - NRI deposits (FCNR(B), NRE, NRO) - RBI's foreign exchange reserves changes
Under the double-entry accounting identity: Current Account + Capital Account + Changes in Reserves = 0. A CAD must be financed by a capital account surplus (net inflows) or a drawdown of forex reserves.
- RBI publishes BoP data: quarterly, with a lag of one quarter.
- India's CAD in Q3 FY26: $13.2 billion (1.3% of GDP).
- India's CAD full-year FY26 projection: approximately 1.3% of GDP (vs. ~1% in FY25).
- The "safe zone" for India's CAD is generally considered to be below 2.5–3% of GDP (beyond which financing becomes stressed).
● Tracked since February 17, 2026 · last seen June 08, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes