The country’s debt from foreign sources increased by $11.5 billion to $614.9 billion in the quarter ended December 2021. The Finance Ministry gave this information on Thursday. The external debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio stood at 20 per cent at the end of December last year, from 20.3 per cent in September 2021.
According to the report on India’s external debt for the quarter ended December 2021, the country’s external debt increased by $ 11.5 billion to $ 614.9 billion as compared to the quarter ended September 2021. According to the report, “India’s external debt is consistently and judiciously managed.”
The valuation advantage is due to an increase in the exchange rate of the US dollar against the euro, yen and special drawing rights (SDRs). This profit was about $ 1.7 billion. According to the report, “Excluding the valuation effect, the external debt would have increased by $13.2 billion in the quarter ended December, 2021 from $11.5 billion in the previous quarter.”
The share of commercial debt in external debt was the highest at 36.8 per cent. It was followed by overseas deposits (23.1 per cent) and short-term business credit. Long-term debt maturing in more than a year stood at $500.3 billion at the end of December 2021. It stood at $500.3 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion as of September 2021.
On the other hand, the share of short-term debt with maturity up to one year in external debt increased to 18.6 per cent from 17.4 per cent at the end of September, 2021.
According to the report, the share of debt taken in US dollars in India’s external debt was the highest at 52 percent in the quarter under review. It was followed by the Indian rupee (32 per cent), special drawing rights (6.7 per cent), yen (5.3 per cent) and the euro (3.1 per cent).
The outstanding external debt of the government declined marginally during the quarter ended December, 2021 as compared to the previous quarter, while that of the non-government sector increased. Also, the interest payment along with repayment of principal amount increased to 4.9 per cent in the quarter under review from 4.7 per cent in the quarter ended September, 2021.