Prateek Tanmay
3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jul 23, 2026 10:36 AM IST
Resident individuals stepped up overseas investments in equity and debt instruments while spending more on leisure and other travel in May 2026, helping outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) recover from the previous month.
Total outward remittances rose to $2.396 billion in May 2026, up from $2.286 billion in April 2026, reflecting renewed overseas spending despite moderation in some major categories such as gifts, maintenance of close relatives and studies abroad, according to RBI data.
Among the key contributors to the monthly increase was investment in equity and debt, which climbed sharply to $363.64 million in May from $238.63 million in April, registering an increase of over 52%. The rise suggests that resident individuals increased allocations to overseas financial assets after a softer performance in April.
Although the May figure remained below the $440.22 million recorded in March 2026, it marked a significant rebound in portfolio investments abroad, RBI says.
Another major driver of the overall increase was other travel, which includes holiday travel and payments for settling international credit card transactions. Remittances under this category surged 21% to $831.44 million in May, compared with $686.65 million in April, indicating stronger discretionary spending on overseas travel and related expenses.
The category also remained well above the $623.05 million recorded in March.
Under the LRS, resident individuals, including minors, can freely remit up to $ 2,50,000 per financial year for permissible current or capital account transactions. These transactions include education, studies abroad, travel, medical treatment abroad, purchase of property and investments in foreign stocks.
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Overall travel remittances continued to dominate LRS outflows, increasing to $1.28 billion in May from $1.16 billion in April.
Within this, business travel remittances rose to $13.95 million from $10.03 million, while pilgrimage-related travel moderated to $10.13 million from $17.31 million. Travel for medical treatment edged lower to $4.13 million from $4.58 million, while spending on travel for education declined marginally to $422.97 million from $439.34 million, LRS data shows.
RBI data shows deposit-related remittances also strengthened during the month, increasing to $118.12 million from $94.79 million. In contrast, remittances for the purchase of immovable property fell to $35.76 million in May from $49.21 million in April, indicating relatively subdued overseas property acquisitions.
Several categories recorded declines during the month. Remittances made as gifts fell to $201.50 million from $270.44 million, while maintenance of close relatives overseas dropped to $289.11 million from $328.73 million. Studies abroad, which cover payments for overseas education undertaken remotely rather than through travel, declined significantly to $92.61 million from $134.75 million.
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Medical treatment payments for services availed without travelling abroad increased modestly to $4.92 million from $3.37 million, while donations eased slightly to $0.69 million from $0.82 million. The miscellaneous “Others” category also witnessed a marginal decline to $7.43 million from $7.94 million, RBI says.
For the first two months of 2026-27, cumulative outward remittances under the LRS stood at $ 4.68 billion, highlighting the continued appetite among resident individuals for overseas investments, travel, education and other permitted transactions. The latest data suggest that stronger spending on financial investments and discretionary travel more than offset weakness in family maintenance, gifts and education-related remittances, resulting in a modest month-on-month rise in overall overseas outflows during May 2026.
