Country's current account deficit grew to $11.5 billion, growth rate of key infra sector fell to 2.9%

The Reserve Bank of India said on Friday that India's current account deficit has increased during the October-December quarter. This is mainly because of the increase in trade deficit.

The current account deficit was $11.5 billion or 1.1% of GDP in the third quarter of FY 2024-25, compared to $10.4 billion or 1.1% of GDP in the corresponding quarter last year. The RBI stated the deficit in July-September this year was revised to $16.7 billion, or 1.8% of GDP.

According to official data released on Friday, the growth rate of eight key infrastructure sectors fell to a five-month low of 2.9% in February, as against 7.1% growth in the same month a year ago.

On a monthly basis, the growth rate in production of these sectors was lower than the 5.1% growth recorded in January. Earlier, the growth rate was recorded at 2.4% in September. Crude oil and natural gas production recorded negative growth in February.

Production growth of coal, refinery products, steel and electricity was 1.7%, 0.8%, 5.6%, and 2.8% respectively, as against 11.6%, 2.6%, 9.4%, and 7.6% in February last year.