NEW DELHI: Due to increased commercial borrowing, India’s external debt stood at $513.4 billion at the end of quarter ending December, recording an increase of 8.8 per cent or $41.6 billion over the level at March-end, the government said on Wednesday.
“At end-December 2017, long-term external debt accounted for 81 per cent of India’s total external debt, while the remaining (19 per cent) was short-term external debt,” said a statement from Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.
Out of this long term debt, the shares of government stood at 21.2 per cent and of non-government debt stood at 78.8 per cent in the total external debt. According to Tanvee Gupta Jain, India economist at UBS Group AG, said: “India’s record foreign exchange reserves somewhat mask the country’s vulnerability on its external finances. India remains vulnerable in its external position and risks are rising on the margin,” Jain wrote in the note.”
She added that the widening trade deficit and firmer prices for oil — India’s biggest import item — are only set to cloud the outlook. “There is no room for complacency and we think policymakers should keep a close watch on monitoring this risk.”
India’s gross external debt rose by $86 billion between March 2013 and September 2017, while foreign exchange reserve rose by $108 billion during the same period. The ratio of concessional debt to total external debt was 8.6 per cent at end-December 2017, compared to the 9.3 per cent at end-March 2017.