At end-March 2023, India’s external debt amounted to $ 624.7 billion, up S$ 5.6 billion over its level at end-March 2022. “ Excluding the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by $ 26.2 billion instead of $ 5.6 billion at end-March 2023 over end-March 2022” , the Reserve bank said in its latest release.
Long-term debt with original maturity of above one year was placed at $ 496.3 billion as of March 2023, up $ 1.1 billion over its level at end-March 2022.
The external debt to GDP ratio declined to 18.9 per cent at end-March 2023 from 20.0 per cent at end-March 2022. Moderation in this ratio augurs well for mitigating external risks and adverse effects of global spillovers, according to RBI’s latest Financial stability report.
The share of short-term debt with original maturity of up to one year- in total external debt increased to 20.6 percent from 19.7 per cent in the previous year. Similarly, the ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves increased to 22.2 per cent in March 2023 compared to 20.0 per cent in the previous year.
Short-term debt on residual maturity basis – debt obligations that include long-term debt by original maturity falling due over the next twelve months and short-term debt by original maturity- constituted 43.9 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2023 (43.2 per cent at end-March 2022) and stood at 47.4 percent of foreign exchange reserves (44.0 per cent at end-March 2022).US dollar-denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 54.6 per cent at end-March 2023, followed by debt denominated in the Indian rupee (29.8 per cent), SDR (6.1 per cent), yen (5.7 per cent), and the euro (3.2 per cent).
