Question : How much India’s external debt stood at end-June 2020 ?
(A) 554.5 billion dollar
(B) 545 billion dollar
(C) 515 billion dollar
(D) 485 billion dollar
Answer (a)
Related facts
The major developments relating to India’s external debt as at end-June 2020 are presented below :-
Highlights
- At end-June 2020, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 554.5 billion, recording a decrease of US$ 3.9 billion over its level at end-March 2020 .
- The external debt to GDP ratio increased to 21.8 per cent at end-June 2020 from 20.6 per cent at end-March 2020.
- Valuation loss due to the depreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis major currencies such as euro, yen and SDR2 were placed at US$ 0.7 billion. Excluding the valuation effect, the decrease in external debt would have been US$ 4.5 billion instead of US$ 3.9 billion at end-June 2020 over end-March 2020.
- Commercial borrowings remained the largest component of external debt, with a share of 38.1 per cent, followed by non-resident deposits (23.9 per cent) and short-term trade credit (18.2 per cent).
- At end-June 2020, long-term debt (with original maturity of above one year) was placed at US$ 449.5 billion, recording a decrease of US$ 2.0 billion over its level at end-March 2020.
- The share of short-term debt (with original maturity of up to one year) in total external debt declined to 18.9 per cent at end-June 2020 from 19.1 per cent at end-March 2020; the ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves declined to 20.8 per cent at end-June 2020 (22.4 per cent at end-March 2020).
- Short-term debt on residual maturity basis (i.e., debt obligations that include long-term debt by original maturity falling due over the next twelve months and short-term debt by original maturity) constituted 44.0 per cent of total external debt at end-June 2020 (42.4 per cent at end-March 2020) and stood at 48.2 per cent of foreign exchange reserves (49.6 per cent at end-March 2020.
- US dollar denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 53.9 per cent at end-June 2020, followed by the Indian rupee (31.6 per cent), yen (5.7 per cent), SDR (4.5 per cent) and the euro (3.5 per cent).
- The borrower-wise classification shows that the outstanding debt of both government and non-government sectors decreased at end-June 2020.
- The share of outstanding debt of non-financial corporations in total external debt was the highest at 42.3 per cent, followed by deposit-taking corporations (except the central bank) (28.1 per cent), general government (18.0 per cent) and other financial corporations (7.4 per cent).
- The instrument-wise classification shows that the loans were the largest component of external debt, with a share of 35.4 per cent, followed by currency and deposits (24.3 per cent), trade credit and advances (18.8 per cent) and debt securities (16.3 per cent)
- Debt service (principal repayments plus interest payments) increased to 8.1 per cent of current receipts at end-June 2020 as compared with 6.5 per cent at end-March 2020, reflecting lower current receipts.
By — Pankaj Pandey.
Link:
https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=50440