Investment outflows: India may need to adopt extraordinary measures to reverse this exodus
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It’s the best of times. It’s the worst of times. Charles Dickens wasn’t an economist, not by far, but his immortal lines in A Tale of Two Cities perfectly captures India’s macroeconomic dilemma today.
Gross domestic product (GDP) growth has averaged above 6%, making India one of the world’s fastest major economies. Inflation has been under control, kept well below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) mandate of 4%. Last year, the current account deficit (CAD) was barely half the consensus ‘ideal’ level of 2% of GDP.
Just a few months ago, RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra used the term ‘Goldilocks economy’ (for satisfactory growth and inflation rates). However, it seems global investors are not impressed. Net foreign portfolio (FPI) outflows hit ₹2 trillion in 2026 recently, already 25% more than ₹1.6 trillion that FPIs pulled out in all of 2025.
FDI, while strong at a gross level, has remained anaemically low at a net level. Consequently, India’s balance of payments (BoP) could end up in negative territory for the third year running in 2026-27.So we have a fast-growing economy with stable macro-stability markers, yet we face an exodus of foreign capital; this is a trick question, way out of syllabus. The solution set needs to go beyond the textbook too.First, fix the yield spread.
For five years running, the 10-year yield spread between rupee and dollar denominated assets have been at historic lows. From a 21st century average of 350-400 basis points, spreads have shrunk to 250 bps today.Part of the reason is a narrowing inflation gap: the India-US inflation differential has narrowed (and often even flipped). Note how RBI was less hawkish when the US Fed started tightening its policy in 2022
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