India’s external debt hits $496bn

India’s external debt reached $495.7 billion at the end of September quarter, up 5.1 percent over end-March 2017, primarily on account of increase in foreign investment in the debt segment of capital market. On a sequential basis, total external debt at end-September 2017 increased by $10 billion (2.1pc) from the end-June 2017 level.

“The rise in external debt during the period was primarily due to the increase in foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in the debt segment of domestic capital market included under commercial borrowings,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

Some increase in short-term debt primarily due to trade related credit also contributed to the overall increase in total external debt. The release further said the maturity pattern of India’s external debt indicates dominance of longterm borrowings.

“At end-September 2017, long-term external debt accounted for 81.3pc of India’s total external debt, while the remaining (18.7pc) was short-term external debt,” it said.

The US dollar denominated debt accounted for 50pc of India’s total external debt at end-September 2017, followed by Indian rupee (35.7pc), SDR (5.7pc), Japanese Yen (4.4pc), Euro (3.2pc), Pound Sterling (0.6pc), and others (0.4 per cent).