India's total external debt rose by 1.8 percent or US$2.2 billion to US$124.3 billion as at the end of September 2005 from US$122.1 billion at end-June 2005. However, as compared to end-March 2005, the stock of external debt at end September 2005 showed a smaller rise of 0.9 percent or US$1.05 billion (Table).
| Table: India's External Debt (US $ million) | |||||||
| Item | Debt Outstanding | Variation | |||||
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| Absolute | Percent | ||
| March 2005 (R) | June 2005 (R) | Sept. 2005(QE) | Mar. 05 to Sept. 05 (4-2) | June 05 to Sept. 05 (4-3) | Mar. 05 to Sept. 05 | June 05 to Sept. 05 | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 1. Multilateral | 31,656 | 31,289 | 31,401 | -255 | 112 | -0.8 | 0.4 |
| 2. Bilateral | 16,938 | 16,293 | 15,883 | -1,055 | -410 | -6.2 | -2.5 |
| 3. IMF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 4. Export credit | 4,972 | 5,212 | 5,290 | 318 | 78 | 6.4 | 1.5 |
| 5. Commercial borrowings | 27,144 | 27,173 | 28,527 | 1,383 | 1,354 | 5.1 | 5.0 |
| 6. NRI Deposits (long-term) | 32,743 | 32,730 | 32,802 | 59 | 72 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| 7. Rupee debt | 2,301 | 2,146 | 2,120 | -181 | -26 | -7.9 | -1.2 |
| 8. Long-term debt (1 to 7) | 115,754 | 114,843 | 116,023 | 269 | 1,180 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| 9. Short-term debt | 7,524 | 7,275 | 8,303 | 779 | 1,028 | 10.4 | 14.1 |
| 10. Total debt (8+9) | 123,278 | 122,118 | 124,326 | 1,048 | 2,208 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| R: Revised QE: Quick Estimates | |||||||
Component-wise, both long-term and short-term contributed almost equal amount to the increase in debt stock. Long-term debt outstanding stood at US$116.0 billion at end-September 2005 showed a rise of US$1.2 billion over the quarter entirely due to increase in external commercial borrowings. Short-term debt increased by 14.1 percent over the quarter to US$8,303 million at end-September 2005 on account of a rise in trade credits. Increase in trade credits was attributed to higher oil and non-oil imports during the current fiscal year so far.
In terms of their share in total debt stock, multilateral debt constituted 25.3 per cent of the total debt at end September 2005. Non-Resident deposits accounted for 26.4 percent, followed by commercial borrowings at 22.9 per cent. The share of bilateral debt was 12.8 per cent. Export credit and Rupee debt accounted for 4.2 and 1.7 per cent, respectively. The share of short-term debt was 6.7 per cent.
India’s foreign exchange reserves including foreign currency assets of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), gold, SDRs and Reserve Tranche Position in the International Monetary Fund were US $ 143.1 billion as at the end of September 2005. Foreign currency assets of the RBI amounted to US$ 136.9 billion as on September 30, 2005 providing a cover of around 110 per cent to total external debt.
There is no significant change in the currency composition of India’s external debt over the quarter. As in the past, the US dollar continued to be the major currency in India’s external debt basket with the share of 45.9 percent at end-September 2005.
The external debt management policy of the Government continued to focus on raising loans from least expensive sources with longer maturities, monitoring of short-term debt, keeping commercial debt under manageable limits, encouraging non-debt creating capital flows and accelerating growth of exports.
The complete text of this report is available on the Ministry of Finance Website: http://www.finmin.nic.in
BSC/BY/GN- 444 /05