The Structural Relationship Between Current and Capital Account Balance in India: A Time Series Analysis

Abstract

The long run relationship between current account balance (CAB) and capital account balance (KAB) and the repercussions of capital account convertibility (KAC) on growth process of a country is a much debated issue. In particular, in the aftermath of the Southeast Asian crisis, the limitation of the liberal capital regime for a developing country like India is often highlighted in the literature. However, the probable impact of introducing KAC on CAB in India generally is discussed theoretically. Though some of the existing studies in India have earlier focused on this research question, they have done so by exogenously assuming the existence of a single structural break in the interrelationship between CAB and KAB. The present study intends to bridge the gap in the literature by raising two empirical questions: first, how far KAC is likely to destabilize the CAB and second, measuring the strength of the interrelationship between CAB and KAB. The current paper also contributes to the literature by incorporating multiple endogenous structural breaks in the empirical analysis. The empirical findings do not support any long term relationship between capital and current account balance and reveals that two significant structural breaks are observed in 1993-94 and 2003-04.