As per the standard practice, India's external debt statistics for the quarters ending March and June are released by the Reserve Bank of India with a lag of one quarter and those for the quarters ending September and December by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The external debt data as at end-March 2017 in rupees and US dollars as well as revised data for earlier quarters are set out in Statements 1 and 2, respectively. The major developments relating to India’s external debt as at end-March 2017 are presented below. Highlights At end-March 2017, India’s external debt witnessed a decline of 2.7 per cent over its level at end-March 2016, primarily on account of a decline in Non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits and commercial borrowings. The decline in the magnitude of external debt was partly due to valuation loss resulting from the depreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Indian rupee. The external debt to GDP ratio stood at 20.2 per cent as at end-March 2017, lower than its level of 23.5 per cent at end-March 2016. Major highlights pertaining to India’s external debt as at end-March 2017 are presented below:
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At end-March 2017, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 471.9 billion, recording a decline of US$ 13.1 billion over its level at end-March 2016 (Table 1).
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Valuation loss due to depreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Indian rupee was placed at US$ 1.5 billion. Excluding the valuation effect, the decline in external debt would have been US$ 14.6 billion instead of US$ 13.1 billion as at end-March 2017 over the level at end-March 2016.
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Commercial borrowings continued to be the largest component of external debt with a share of 36.7 per cent, followed by NRI deposits (24.8 per cent) and short-term trade credit (18.3 per cent).
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At end-March 2017, long-term debt was placed at US$ 383.9 billion, recording a decline of US$ 17.7 billion over its level at end-March 2016.
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The share of long-term debt in total external debt as at end-March 2017 was 81.4 per cent, lower than 82.8 per cent at end-March 2016.
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The share of short-term debt (original maturity) in total external debt increased to 18.6 per cent at end-March 2017 from 17.2 per cent at end-March 2016. The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves increased to 23.8 per cent as at end-March 2017 (23.1 per cent at end-March 2016).
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On a residual maturity basis, short-term debt constituted 41.5 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2017 (42.7 per cent at end-March 2016) and stood at 52.9 per cent of total foreign exchange reserves (57.4 per cent at end-March 2016) (Table 2).
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US dollar denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India’s external debt with a share of 52.1 per cent as at end-March 2017, followed by the Indian rupee (33.6 per cent), SDR (5.8 per cent), Japanese yen (4.6 per cent) and Euro (2.9 per cent).
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The borrower classification shows that the outstanding debt of the Government increased; however, non-Government debt declined at end-March 2017 (Table 3).
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Debt service payments declined to 8.3 per cent of current receipts as at end-March 2017 as compared with 8.8 per cent at end-March 2016 (Table 4).
Jose J. Kattoor Chief General Manager Press Release : 2016-2017/3536
Table 1: External Debt - Outstanding and Variation |
(US$ billion) |
Component |
Outstanding as at end-March |
Absolute variation |
Percentage variation |
2015 |
2016 R |
2017 P |
Mar-16 over Mar-15 |
Mar-17 over Mar-16 |
Mar-16 over Mar-15 |
Mar-17 over Mar-16 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
1. Multilateral |
52.4 |
54.0 |
54.5 |
1.6 |
0.5 |
3.0 |
0.9 |
2. Bilateral |
21.7 |
22.5 |
23.2 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
3.4 |
3.1 |
3. IMF |
5.5 |
5.6 |
5.4 |
0.1 |
-0.2 |
2.1 |
-3.5 |
4. Trade Credit |
12.6 |
10.6 |
9.7 |
-2.0 |
-1.0 |
-15.6 |
-9.0 |
5. Commercial Borrowings |
180.3 |
180.7 |
173.1 |
0.4 |
-7.7 |
0.2 |
-4.2 |
6. NRI Deposits |
115.2 |
126.9 |
116.9 |
11.8 |
-10.1 |
10.2 |
-7.9 |
7. Rupee Debt |
1.5 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
-0.2 |
-0.1 |
-15.1 |
-3.9 |
8. Short-term Debt |
85.5 |
83.4 |
88.0 |
-2.1 |
4.6 |
-2.5 |
5.5 |
Of which |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Short-term trade credit |
81.6 |
80.0 |
86.5 |
-1.6 |
6.5 |
-2.0 |
8.1 |
Total External Debt (1 to 8) |
474.7 |
485.0 |
471.9 |
10.3 |
-13.1 |
2.2 |
-2.7 |
Memo Items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Long-Term Debt |
389.2 |
401.6 |
383.9 |
12.4 |
-17.7 |
3.2 |
-4.4 |
B. Short-Term Debt |
85.5 |
83.4 |
88.0 |
-2.1 |
4.6 |
-2.5 |
5.5 |
P: Provisional. R: Revised |
Table 2: Residual Maturity of External Debt Outstanding as at End-March 2017 |
(US$ billion) |
Component |
Short-term up to one year |
Long-term |
Total |
1 to 2 years |
2 to 3 years |
More than 3 years |
(2 to 5) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
1. Sovereign Debt (long-term) $ |
4.6 |
6.4 |
6.9 |
77.8 |
95.7 |
2. Commercial Borrowings # |
24.0 |
22.6 |
22.3 |
102.5 |
171.3 |
3. NRI deposits {(i)+(ii)+(iii)} |
79.3 |
16.6 |
10.2 |
10.7 |
116.9 |
(i) FCNR(B) |
11.4 |
5.7 |
2.5 |
1.3 |
21.0 |
(ii) NR(E)RA |
57.4 |
10.0 |
6.8 |
9.0 |
83.2 |
(iii) NRO |
10.5 |
0.9 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
12.7 |
4. Short-term Debt* (original maturity) |
88.0 |
|
|
|
88.0 |
Total (1 to 4) |
195.9 |
45.6 |
39.3 |
191.1 |
471.9 |
Memo Items |
Short-term Debt (residual maturity) as per cent of Total External Debt |
41.5 |
Short-term Debt (residual maturity) as per cent of Reserves |
52.9 |
$: Inclusive of FPI Investments in Government Securities. #: Commercial Borrowings are inclusive of trade credit, FPI investments in corporate debt instruments and a portion of non-Government multilateral and bilateral borrowings and therefore may not tally with the figures provided in other Tables under original maturity. *: Also includes FPI investments in security receipts issued by Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) under the extant corporate debt limits. |
Table 3: Government and Non-Government External Debt |
(US$ billion) |
Component |
End-March |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 R |
2017 P |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
A. Sovereign Debt (I+II) |
83.7 |
89.7 |
93.4 |
95.8 |
(As a percentage of GDP) |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.1 |
I. External Debt on Government Account under External Assistance |
62.2 |
58.5 |
61.1 |
62.8 |
II. Other Government External Debt @ |
21.5 |
31.3 |
32.4 |
33.0 |
B. Non-Government Debt # |
362.5 |
385.0 |
391.6 |
376.1 |
(As a percentage of GDP) |
19.4 |
19.4 |
19.0 |
16.1 |
C. Total External Debt (A+B) |
446.2 |
474.7 |
485.0 |
471.9 |
(As a percentage of GDP) |
23.9 |
23.9 |
23.5 |
20.2 |
P: Provisional. R: Revised |
|
|
|
|
@: Other Government external debt includes Defence Debt, investment in Government Securities by FPIs, Foreign Central Banks, International Institutions and IMF. #: Includes external debt of Monetary Authority. |
Table 4: India’s Key External Debt Indicators |
End-March |
External Debt (US$ billion) |
Ratio of External Debt to GDP (Per cent) |
Debt Service Ratio (Per cent) |
Ratio of Foreign Exchange Reserves to Total Debt (Per cent) |
Ratio of Concessional Debt to Total Debt (Per cent) |
Ratio of Short-Term Debt to Foreign Exchange Reserves (Per cent) |
Ratio of Short-Term Debt to Total Debt (Per cent) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
1991 |
83.8 |
28.7 |
35.3 |
7.0 |
45.9 |
146.5 |
10.2 |
1996 |
93.7 |
27.0 |
26.2 |
23.1 |
44.7 |
23.2 |
5.4 |
2001 |
101.3 |
22.5 |
16.6 |
41.7 |
35.4 |
8.6 |
3.6 |
2006 |
139.1 |
16.8 |
10.1# |
109.0 |
28.4 |
12.9 |
14.0 |
2007 |
172.4 |
17.5 |
4.7 |
115.6 |
23.0 |
14.1 |
16.3 |
2008 |
224.4 |
18.0 |
4.8 |
138.0 |
19.7 |
14.8 |
20.4 |
2009 |
224.5 |
20.3 |
4.4 |
112.2 |
18.7 |
17.2 |
19.3 |
2010 |
260.9 |
18.2 |
5.8 |
106.9 |
16.8 |
18.8 |
20.1 |
2011 |
317.9 |
18.2 |
4.4 |
95.9 |
14.9 |
21.3 |
20.4 |
2012 |
360.8 |
21.1 |
6.0 |
81.6 |
13.3 |
26.6 |
21.7 |
2013 |
409.4 |
22.4 |
5.9 |
71.3 |
11.1 |
33.1 |
23.6 |
2014 |
446.2 |
23.9 |
5.9 |
68.2 |
10.4 |
30.1 |
20.5 |
2015 |
474.7 |
23.9 |
7.6 |
72.0 |
8.8 |
25.0 |
18.0 |
2016 R |
485.0 |
23.5 |
8.8 |
74.3 |
9.0 |
23.1 |
17.2 |
2017 P |
471.9 |
20.2 |
8.3 |
78.4 |
9.3 |
23.8 |
18.6 |
P: Provisional. R: Revised. # Works out to 6.3 per cent with the exclusion of India Millennium Deposits (IMDs) repayments of US$ 7.1 billion and prepayment of external debt of US$ 23.5 million. |
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