KOCHI: The NRI deposits in banks have shown a sharp fall in the first half of this financial year compared with the same period a year ago, according to Reserve Bank of India. An RBI bulletin on Wednesday detailing the foreign exchange reserves in the country has revealed that the NRI deposits fell by nearly 50 per cent to $1.9 billion from 3.5 billion in April-September period in 2016. The NRI deposits coming under the heading banking capital have shown a decline even as the overall foreign exchange has shown substantial increase in the period. According to the data, the foreign exchange reserve has risen to $30.3 billion, compared with $11.8 billion in the same period a year ago. The foreign exchange reserves have now crossed $400 billion.
The sharp fall in the overall NRI deposits may have decelerating impact on states like Kerala depending heavily on remittances for the buoyancy of its consumer-driven economy. The deposits data in the state needed to be analyzed in detail to understand whether the trend in Kerala is tracking the overall fall in the NRI deposits in the country, say economists.
