India's external debt at the end of March 2023 reached $ 624.7 billion
According to data released by the Reserve Bank, India's external debt saw a marginal increase, reaching US$ 624.7 billion at the end of March 2023. India's external debt increased by US$ 5.6 billion over the previous year, when it stood at US$ 619.1 billion by March 2022.
Data from the Reserve Bank show that the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to decline from 20 percent to 18.9 in March 2022. The appreciation of the US dollar against major currencies resulted in a gain of US$20.6 billion in valuation.
If the valuation effect is removed, the external debt would have increased by US$ 26.2 billion from March 2022 to March 2023 instead of US$ 5.6 billion.
The proportion of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves also increased from 20 percent in March 2022 to 22.2 percent in March 2023. The largest component of India's external debt remained US dollar-denominated debt, accounting for 54.6 percent. It is followed by loans denominated in Indian rupee (29.8 percent), SDR (6.1 percent), yen (5.7 percent), and euro (3.2 percent).
loan structure
As of March 2023, long-term debt (with an original maturity of more than one year) stood at US$ 496.3 billion, registering a decline of US$ 1.1 billion as compared to March
2022.
The share of short-term debt (up to one year) in total external debt increased from 19.7 percent in March 2022 to 20.6 percent in March 2023.
External debt is the largest component of India's external debt, accounting for 32.5 percent, followed by currency and deposits (22.6 percent) and trade loans and advances (19.9 percent).
