It’s good news for India even as the latest data for April-December 2024 released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows a remarkable increase in money inflow from overseas Indians into non-resident Indian (NRI) bank accounts.

Just last December, the RBI had raised the interest rate ceiling on FCNR(B) deposits in order to attract foreign currency inflows to support the rupee against the US dollar. By December end, the outstanding amount in this account stood at $32.19 billion. This account also recorded the highest inflow of $6.46 billion when compared to $3.45 billion, close to double the amount in the same period last year. FCNR(B) accounts are where NRIs maintain fixed deposits in freely convertible foreign currencies for one to five years. This enables them to protect their funds from currency fluctuations.

The other two NRI deposits are non-resident external (NRE) deposits and non-resident ordinary (NRO) deposits.

The inflow of funds from Indians working abroad into these three accounts put together had risen by 42.8% to $13.33 billion. It was $9.33 billion in the same period the previous year. At the end of December 2024, the total outstanding NRI deposits was $161.8 billion. In December 2023, it stood at $146.9 billion.

Outstanding NRE deposits recorded $99.56 billion last December. This account saw inflows of $3.57 billion in 2024; it was $2.91 billion during the same period the previous year.

NRO deposits recorded inflows of $3.29 billion in 2024, compared to $2.97 billion in 2023. The total outstanding amount in this account touched $30.04 billion at the end of December 2024. – Photo by freepik – editor@nrifocus.com