As of September 2024, India‘s external debt stood at US$ 711.8 billion, reflecting an increase of US$ 29.6 billion compared to June 2024. The external debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 19.4% from 18.8% in June 2024. This rise includes a US$ 6.7 billion valuation effect due to the depreciation of the US dollar against major currencies like the Japanese Yen, Euro, UK Pound, and SDR. Excluding this effect, the increase in external debt would have been US$ 23.0 billion.
Long-term external debt (with original maturity over one year) amounted to US$ 578.2 billion, increasing by US$ 28.7 billion from June 2024. The share of short-term debt (maturity up to one year) in total external debt decreased to 18.8% from 19.4% in June 2024. Similarly, the short-term debt-to-foreign-exchange-reserves ratio dropped to 18.9% from 20.3% in June.
Short-term debt on a residual maturity basis (including debt due within the next 12 months) made up 42.4% of total external debt, down from 44.0% at the end of June 2024. This also represented 42.8% of foreign exchange reserves, a decrease from 46.0% in June.
The largest portion of India‘s external debt was denominated in US dollars, making up 53.4% of the total, followed by the Indian Rupee at 31.2%, Japanese Yen at 6.6%, SDR at 5.0%, and Euro at 3.0%.
Debt from non-financial corporations comprised 36.6% of total external debt, while the share of deposit-taking corporations (excluding the central bank) was 27.9%, general government debt stood at 22.8%, and other financial corporations accounted for 8.2%.
Loans made up the largest component of external debt, representing 33.7%, followed by currency and deposits at 23.1%, trade credit and advances at 18.3%, and debt securities at 17.2%.
Finally, debt service (the total of principal repayments and interest payments) accounted for 6.7% of current receipts at the end of September 2024, a slight increase from 6.6% in June 2024.
