External Debt
External debt (also called foreign debt) is the total debt which the residents of a country owe to foreign creditors. The debtors can be the government, corporations or citizens of that country. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, foreign governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
India classifies external debt under the 8 heads - Multilateral, Bilateral, Trade credit, Commercial borrowings, IMF loans, NRI and PIO deposits, Rupee debt, NPR debt
External debt (also called foreign debt) is the total debt which the residents of a country owe to foreign creditors. The debtors can be the government, corporations or citizens of that country. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, foreign governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
India classifies external debt under the 8 heads - Multilateral, Bilateral, Trade credit, Commercial borrowings, IMF loans, NRI and PIO deposits, Rupee debt, NPR debt
SUBJECT Variables
TOTAL EXTERNAL DEBT
- India’s total external debt as on 31 Mar'21 rose 2.1% year-on-year to touch a record high of USD 570 billion.
- In rupee terms, India's external debt as on 31 Mar'21 stood at 4,165K crore.
- Sovereign (government) debt, comprising 18.8% of India's total external debt, increased by 6.2% to USD 107.2 billion, as of Mar'21. The increase in sovereign debt is primarily attributed to the increase in external assistance on government account which more than neutralized a decline in FII investments in securities issued by the Government of India (G-sec). The augmented external assistance reflects larger disbursement of COVID-19 loans from multilateral agencies during 2020-21.
- Non-sovereign (non-government) debt, comprising 81.2% of India's total external debt, increased marginally by 1.14% to USD 462.8 billion, as of Mar'21. The increase in non-sovereign debt is primarily attributed to the increase in NRI deposits which was higher than the contraction in the stock of commercial borrowings and short-term trade credit. However, the growth-sensitive commercial borrowings and import-sensitive short-term trade credit shrank.
- While Covid-19 pandemic disrupted growth-dependent constituents, overall external debt level rose.
- The US dollar continues to be the predominant currency for India's external debt comprising 52.1% of the total external debt as of Mar'21.
- The US dollar depreciated as of end-Mar'21 over the level a year ago leading to a valuation loss of USD 6.8 billion. Excluding valuation losses, the increase in India‘s foreign debt would have been USD 4.7 billion, instead of USD 11.5 billion.
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Get full access to the exciting content on The Mirrority by logging in
Support independent journalism
Even the very best of media houses in our country today are yielding to the pressure of click-bait journalism in order to survive. More than ever before, our country needs journalism that is independent, fair and non-pliant to the bureaucracy. Such journalism needs the support of like-minded readers like you to help us survive editorially and financially.
Whether you live in India or India lives inside you, help us continue to produce quality journalism with your contribution.
CONTRIBUTE