Outward remittance under LRS hits record $2,023 million in April

Money sent abroad by Indians under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme hit a record high of $2,023 million in April 2022. This follows strong growth in remittances in FY22 with jump in travel contributing significantly to the rise. The RBI permits an individual to send up to $250,000 each financial year, abroad.

Around 43 per cent of the money sent abroad in April 2022, $880.78 million, was spent on travel. With the Omicron cases ebbing, Indians seem to have resumed overseas travel. The next largest remittance was for maintenance of close relatives, accounting for $385.57 million, followed by overseas gifting which accounted for $299.2 million. Remittance for studies abroad is another major head which added another $232.95 million to the remittances in April 2022.

Remittances had been growing steadily since 2017-18, with 21.6 per cent yearly growth in FY19 and 36 per cent growth in FY20. However, the pandemic impacted remittance under LRS too, resulting in a decline of 32 per cent in FY21. With countries unlocking and the economy reviving, overseas remittance also picked up steam in FY22, registering 54.6 per cent growth.

Travel boom 

January 2022 saw the most money spent on international travel in the last two years — $989.05 million. International travel picked up from December 2021, with average remittance between December 2021 and April 2022 at $902 million. This is almost thrice the average remittance for this objective between April 2020 and November 2021, which was $325 million.

In the last two years, the highest growth in this sector was noticed between July and August 2021 — 65.5 per cent. It grew from $346.91 million to $574.22 million between those two months when many countries opened up for tourism.

Investment, education 

Money spent on studies abroad is surprisingly showing a downward trend. As much as $232.95 million was spent on it in April 2022, which is around $20 million lesser than April 2019 levels. The remittances for education abroad declined 34.09 per cent over the previous year in April 2022.

While the money spent on overseas studies too showed a growth since April 2020, it plateaued between September 2020 and July 2021, only to peak in August 2021. In that month, $780.26 million was spent here. However, it has been showing a sharp fall since then. 

Investment in equity too has been rising. While it did shrink during the pandemic, it peaked in March 2022, reaching a high of $104.51 million. However, it came down by close to $28 million in April.

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