External debt at $426 bn in December

India’s external debt was at $426 billion — including the government’s debt of $76.4 billion — at the end of December. “Government (Sovereign) external debt stood at $76.4 billion, (17.9 per cent of total external debt) at end-December 2013 as against $81.7 billion (20.2 per cent) at end-March 2013,” the finance ministry said today. The total external debt of $426 billion showed an increase of $21.1 billion over the March-end level.

“The rise in external debt during the period was due to long-term debt particularly NRI deposits. A sharp increase in NRI deposits reflected the impact of fresh FCNR(B) deposits mobilised under the swap scheme during September-November 2013,” it said in the quarterly report.

The ministry further said that the long-term debt was $333.3 billion at the end of December, showing an increase of 8.1 per cent over March, 2013 level, while short-term debt declined by 4.1 per cent to $92.7 billion.