India's external debt rises to $273.1 billion

The short-term debt increased by $5.4 billion to $57.8 billion, accounting for 21.2 percent of the total debt, while the long-term debt rose to $215.2 billion at the quarter ended June 30, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its monthly bulletin.

Almost all the components of external debt registered increase during the first three months of fiscal 2010-11. Commercial borrowings and loans under external assistance (multilateral and bilateral debt) increased by $2.5 billionand $2.3 billion respectively.

The share of commercial borrowings continue to be the highest at 27.3 percent in the total external debt followed by short-term debt (21.2 percent), NRI deposits (17.6 percent) and multilateral debt (16.4 percent).

The valuation effect reflecting the appreciation of the US dollar against other major international currencies and the Indian rupee resulted in a decline of $1.3 billion in India’s external debt during the reporting quarter.

“Excluding the valuation effects due to appreciation of US dollar against other major international currencies and the Indian rupee, the increase in external debt worked out to $12.1 billion over the quarter,” the RBI said.