 "Outward remittances hit new high at $29 billion in April 2023-February 2024")
Outward remittances under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) jumped 21.7 per cent to touch a new high of $29 billion during the April 2023-February 2024 period, according to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Indians remitted $29.43 billion abroad during the April-February period as compared to $24.18 billion in the same period of the previous year.
In the entire FY23, the remittances clocked a record high of $27.14 billion.
Remittances under LRS, which had witnessed a drop in FY21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, witnessed recovery from FY22 and continued to rise in FY23 as well.
In February 2024, the outward remittances stood at $2.01 billion which was 23 per cent lower from $2.62 billion in January 2024.
In the April-February period of FY24, the international travel segment rose to $16 billion, 27.91 per cent up from $12.51 billion in the year ago period.
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This growth was followed by funds used for maintenance of close relatives and overseas education which stood at $4.22 billion and $3.28 billion respectively.
Remittances in February slipped nearly 4 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis from $2.1 billion in February 2023 on account of a drop in international travel.
According to February data, international travel which accounted for over 50 per cent of the entire outward remittances under the scheme marginally dropped to $1.05 billion – a decline of 1.6 per cent from the same year ago period.
The remittance by Indians under the scheme for maintenance of close relatives was $266.39 million, followed by $246.82 million for overseas education, and $233.91 million as gifts.
The LRS scheme was introduced in 2004, allowing all resident individuals to remit up to $250,000 per financial year for any permissible current or capital account transaction, or a combination of both, free of charge.
Outward Remittances under the LRS
*Source: RBI Bulletin
| Financial Year | Total [In ($) mn] |
| 2018-19 | 13787.58 |
| 2019-20 | 18760.69 |
| 2020-21 | 12684.4 |
| 2021-22 | 19610.77 |
| 2022-23 | 27140.65 |
| Apr 2023-Feb 2024 | 29433.38 |
*Source: RBI Bulletin