Overseas Indians' faith grows in Indian economy with $1 billion deposits in April

Showing their confidence in the resilient Indian economy despite global macroeconomic conditions, non-resident Indians (NRIs) deposited around $1 billion in the country in April alone.

Last year, overseas Indians deposited $150 million in the same month, showing their growing belief in the Indian economy as there is increasing evidence of a trend upshift taking shape, which is shifting India's growth trajectory from the 2003-19 average of 7 per cent to the 2021-24 average of 8 per cent or even more.

According to latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the surge in NRI deposits reflects the resilience of the Indian economy.

For the NRIs, There are three key deposit schemes in the country - the foreign currency non-resident (bank) or FCNR(B); the non-resident external rupee account or NRE(RA) and the non-resident ordinary (NRO) deposit scheme.

In April, NRIs deposited $583 million in the NRE(RA) scheme, followed by $483 million in the FCNR(B) scheme.

During the pandemic, NRI deposits grew to $142 billion from $131 billion.

India's forex kitty surges to new lifetime high of  $655.8 billion.

Meanwhile, India's foreign exchange reserves surged by $4.3 billion to scale a lifetime high of $655.8 billion, according to the latest RBI data.

India, with an expected 15.2 per cent share in world remittances in 2024, also continues to be the largest recipient of remittances globally.

An increase in the foreign exchange reserves reflects strong fundamentals of the economy and gives the RBI more headroom to stabilise the rupee when it turns volatile.