As per the 22nd issue of the Annual Publication titled India’s External Debt: A Status Report 2015-16:
India’s external debt stood at USD 485.6 billion at March-end 2016, increasing by USD 10.6 billion, or 2.2 percent, year-on-year due to rise in long-term debt, particularly NRI deposits.
At March-end 2016, long-term external debt was USD 402.2 billion, up 3.3 percent over the year-ago period.
Long-term external debt accounted for 82.8 percent of total external debt in the said period as against 82 percent at end-March 2015.
The rise in external debt was due to the rise in long-term debt, particularly NRI deposits.
As per the report, short-term external debt declined by 2.5 percent to USD 83.4 billion at March-end 2016, from USD 84.7 billion at March-end 2015. This was mainly due to the decline in trade-related credits.
The share of short-term external debt in total external debt dropped to 17.2 percent, from 18 percent a year ago.
India’s external debt has remained within manageable limits in 2015-16 as indicated by increase in foreign exchange reserves to debt ratio to 74.2 percent, the external debt-GDP ratio of 23.7 percent, and a fall in short-term debt to 17.2 percent.
External debt of the country continues to be dominated by the long-term borrowings.
