The Reserve Bank of India has been regularly conducting Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH). The July 2024 round of the survey is being launched. The survey aims at capturing subjective assessments on price movements and inflation, based on their individual consumption baskets, across 19 cities, viz., Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi and Thiruvananthapuram. The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on price changes (general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the three months ahead as well as in the one year ahead period and quantitative responses on current, three months ahead and one year ahead inflation rates. The results of this survey provide useful inputs for monetary policy.

The Reserve Bank of India has been regularly conducting Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS). The July 2024 round of the survey is being launched. The survey seeks qualitative responses from households, regarding their sentiments on general economic situation, employment scenario, price level, households’ income and spending. The survey is conducted regularly in 19 cities, viz., Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi and Thiruvananthapuram. The results of this survey provide useful inputs for monetary policy. The agency, M/s Hansa Research Group Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai has been engaged to conduct the survey of this round on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India. For this purpose, the selected households will be approached by the agency and they are requested to provide their responses. Other individuals, who are not approached by the agency, can also participate in this survey by providing their responses using the linked survey schedule. The filled in survey schedule may be e-mailed as per the contact details given below. In case of any query/clarification, kindly contact at the following address: The Director, Division of Household Surveys, Department of Statistics and Information Management, Reserve Bank of India, C-8, 2nd Floor, Bandra- Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai-400 051; Phone: 022-2657 8398, 022-2657 8332; E-mail: helpieshdsim@rbi.org.in

Today, the Reserve Bank held its 18th Annual Statistics Day Conference with the theme ‘RBI Statistics@90’ as a part of the ‘National Statistics Day’ celebrations in the memory of late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, who made pioneering contributions in laying the foundations of modern day official statistics in India.

Data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for the month of May 2024 collected from 41 select scheduled commercial banks, accounting for about 95 per cent of the total non-food credit deployed by all scheduled commercial banks, are set out in Statements I and II. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit registered a growth of 16.2 per cent in May 2024 as compared with 15.5 per cent a year ago.

Today, the Reserve Bank released the 29th issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on the resilience of the Indian financial system and risks to financial stability. Highlights:The global economy is facing heightened risks from prolonged geopolitical tensions, elevated public debt, and the slow progress in the last mile of disinflation. Despite these challenges, the global financial system has remained resilient, and financial conditions stable.

The Reserve Bank has today released data on Reserve Money for the week ended June 21, 2024 and Money Supply for the fortnight ended June 14, 2024.

Today, the Reserve Bank released data relating to India’s International Investment Position for end-March 2024[1]. Key Features IIP during January-March 2024: Net claims of non-residents on India declined by US$ 6.4 billion during Q4:2023-24 to US$ 361.7 billion as at end-March 2024. Indian residents’ overseas financial assets recorded higher rise (US$ 38.1 billion) as compared to that in the foreign-owned assets in India (US$ 31.7 billion), which led to the decline in net claims of non-residents during the quarter (Table 1).

The stock of external debt at end-March 2024 as well as revised data for earlier quarters are set out in Statements I (IMF format[1]) and II (old format). The major developments relating to India’s external debt as at end-March 2024 are presented below. Highlights At end-March 2024, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 663.8 billion, an increase of US$ 39.7 billion over its level at end-March 2023 (Table 1).
The external debt to GDP ratio declined to 18.7 per cent at end-March 2024 from 19.0 per cent at end-March 2023.
Valuation effect due to the appreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Indian rupee and other major currencies such as yen, the euro and SDR[2] amounted to US$ 8.7 billion. Excluding the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by US$ 48.4 billion instead of US$ 39.7 billion at end-March 2024 over end-March 2023.
At end-March 2024, long-term debt (with original maturity of above one year) was placed at US$ 541.2 billion, recording an increase of US$ 45.6 billion over its level at end-March 2023.
The share of short-term debt (with original maturity of up to one year) in total external debt declined to 18.5 per cent at end-March 2024 from 20.6 per cent at end-March 2023. Similarly, the ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves declined to 19.0 per cent at end-March 2024 (22.2 per cent at end-March 2023).
Short-term debt on residual maturity basis (i.e., debt obligations that include long-term debt by original maturity falling due over the next twelve months and short-term debt by original maturity) constituted 42.9 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2024 (44.0 per cent at end-March 2023) and stood at 44.1 per cent of foreign exchange reserves (47.4 per cent at end-March 2023) (Table 2).
US dollar-denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 53.8 per cent at end-March 2024, followed by debt denominated in the Indian rupee (31.5 per cent), yen (5.8 per cent), SDR (5.4 per cent), and euro (2.8 per cent).

Today, the Reserve Bank of India released balance of payments (BoP) data for the fourth quarter (Q4), i.e., January-March 2023-24 on its website (www.rbi.org.in). On the basis of these data, the sources of variation in foreign exchange reserves during 2023-24 are detailed below in Table 1. Table 1: Sources of Variation in Foreign Exchange Reserves* (US$ billion) Items 2022-23 2023-24 I. Current Account Balance -67.1 -23.3 II. Capital Account (net) (a to f) 57.9 87.0 a. Foreign Investment (i+ii) 22.8 53.9 (i) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) 28.0 9.8 (ii)Portfolio Investment -5.2 44.1 

Preliminary data on India’s balance of payments (BoP) for the fourth quarter (Q4), i.e., January-March 2023-24, are presented in Statements I and II. Key Features of India’s BoP in Q4:2023-24 India’s current account balance recorded a surplus of US$ 5.7 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2023-24 as against a deficit of US$ 8.7 billion (1.0 per cent of GDP) in Q3:2023-24 and US$ 1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) a year ago [i.e., Q4:2022-23] . The merchandise trade deficit at US$ 50.9 billion in Q4:2023-24 was lower than US$ 52.6 billion a year ago. Preliminary data on India’s balance of payments (BoP) for the fourth quarter (Q4), i.e., January-March 2023-24, are presented in Statements I and II. Key Features of India’s BoP in Q4:2023-24 India’s current account balance recorded a surplus of US$ 5.7 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2023-24 as against a deficit of US$ 8.7 billion (1.0 per cent of GDP) in Q3:2023-24 and US$ 1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) a year ago [i.e., Q4:2022-23] . The merchandise trade deficit at US$ 50.9 billion in Q4:2023-24 was lower than US$ 52.6 billion a year ago.