| Date: |
01-04-2016 |
| Subject: |
India's external debt went up to $480 billion at end-December: Finance Ministry |
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NEW DELHI: India's total external debt inched up marginally to $480.2 billion at December-end compared to March-end last year, finance ministry said in a report. The total external debt stock at December-end recorded an increase of $4.9 billion over its level at March-end.
Government (sovereign) external debt stood at $90.7 billion at Decemberend 2015 while non-government debt amounted to $389.5 billion. The report said India's external debt has remained within manageable limits as indicated by external debt indicators.
"The prudent external debt management policy of government of India has helped in containing rise in external debt and maintaining a comfortable external debt position," it said.
The "policy continues to focus" on monitoring long- and short-term debt, raising sovereign loans on concessional terms with longer maturities, regulating ECBs, and rationalising interest rates on Non-Resident Indian deposits.
While debt witnessed modest decline at December-end 2015 sequentially (quarter-on-quarter), on year-on-year basis however, it recorded a growth of 4.7%. Long-term external debt increased by 2.2% or $8.8 billion, while shortterm debt registered a decline of 4.6% or $3.9 billion.
"Thus, the maturity profile of India's external debt continues to be dominated by long-term loans," it said. Talking about valuation effect, the report said the US dollar appreciated against Indian rupee and other most major currencies between March 2015 and December 2015. "Excluding the valuation effect, the external debt would have been higher at $488.1 billion at Decemberend 2015," it said.
The valuation effect arises because external debt is denominated in different currencies, and the US dollar value which is the international numeraire for debt, fluctuates overtime vis-a-vis other currencies.
The share of long-term debt in total external debt increased from 82% at March-end 2015 to 83% at December-end 2015. Long-term debt at $398.6 billion at December-end 2015 recorded an increase of $8.8 billion over March-end 2015.
The rise in long-term external debt was primarily due to higher commercial borrowings and NRI deposits. At December-end 2015, commercial borrowings stood at $183.6 billion, reflecting an increase of 1.5%, while NRI deposits at $122.6 billion rose by 6.5% over the March-end 2015 level.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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