India's external debt down 3 per cent to $472 bn in FY17

New Delhi: India's external debt came down by USD 13.1 billion or 2.7 per cent to USD 471.9 billion at the end of March this year on annual basis mainly due to decrease in NRI deposits and commercial borrowings.

The debt has remained within manageable limits and the situation has improved in 2016-17 over 2015-16, said 'Indias External Debt: A Status Report 2016-17' by the Department of Economic Affairs.

The external debt-GDP ratio fell to 20.2 per cent at the end of March 2017 from 23.5 per cent at March 2016. At end-March 2017, long-term external debt was USD 383.9 billion, showing a decrease of 4.4 per cent year-on-year.

Long-term external debt accounted for 81.4 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2017.

"Short-term external debt increased by 5.5 per cent to USD 88 billion at end-March 2017. This is mainly due to the increase in trade related credits, a major component of short-term debt with a share of 98.3 per cent," the report said.

A cross country comparison based on 'International Debt Statistics 2017' of the World Bank, which presents the debt data for 2015, shows that India continues to be among the less vulnerable countries with its external debt indicators comparing well with other indebted developing countries.

The ratio of India's external debt stock to gross national income (GNI) was the fifth lowest and in terms of the cover provided by foreign exchange reserves to external debt, the position was sixth highest in 2015.