 "The rise of the global Indian traveller and investor")
People in India love travelling and it has once again been proved with the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which has shown that Indians have spent $3.2 billion in August 2024, of which $2.01 billion alone was spent on outbound travel.
As per the RBI, the amount spent by Indians on outbound travel in August this year neared the all-time high of $2.4 billion recorded in July 2023 before the introduction of a 20 per cent tax collection at source (TCS) on foreign remittance.
Even with the implementation from October 2023, forex spending is witnessing a gradual rise after an initial dip.
The travel expenses of Indians in August also surpassed the FY24 monthly average of $1.4 billion
A report by Economic Times quoted forex dealers as saying that demand for outbound travel remains strong, especially with the upcoming holiday bookings.
Apart from travelling, Indians spent $416 million on overseas education, highest since January 2024.
In August 2021, remittances for education surged to $780 million.
However, overall August 2024 witnessed a 5 per cent decline in total remittances compared to $3.3 billion sent overseas during the same month in 2023.
NRI deposits more than double in April-August
Not just this, in April-August this year, inflow of money into non-resident Indian (NRI) deposit schemes doubled to $7.82 billion compared to $3.74 billion during the same period a ago, RBI revealed in its latest month bulletin.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThis shows the bullish sentiments of the Indian diaspora on the robustly growing Indian economy.
The RBI data showed that the total outstanding NRI deposits as of August 2024 stood at $158.94 billion.
The NRI deposit schemes include foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) deposits, non-resident external (NRE) deposits, and non-resident ordinary (NRO) deposits.
As per the data by RBI, of the total $7.82 billion inflows of NRI deposits during April–August, maximum flow came into dollar Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Banks), or FCNR (B), deposits.
About $3.47 billion flowed into FCNR (B) during this period, which are mostly dollar deposits, compared to $1.55 billion in the corresponding period a year ago, showed the RBI data.
The outstanding amount in FCNR (B) accounts stood at $29.2 billion. An FCNR (B) account enables customers to maintain a fixed deposit in India in freely convertible foreign currencies for a tenure ranging from one to five years.
As the account is maintained in foreign currency, it secures funds against currency fluctuations during the tenure of the deposit.
Meanwhile, non-resident external (rupee accounts), or NRE (RA), deposits saw an inflow of $2.51 billion during April-August 2024, compared to an inflow of $868 million in the same period a year ago.
The outstanding NRE deposits stand at $100.54 billion in August, 2024.
Meanwhile, non-resident ordinary (NRO) deposits witnessed inflows of $1.84 billion from April–August 2024, compared to $1.32 billion during the same period last year.
An NRO account is a rupee-denominated bank account for NRIs. The total outstanding amount in NRO deposits in August 2024 stood at $29.19 billion.
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