India's external debt reached $624.7 bn in FY23

Mumbai: India's external debt rose marginally to $624.7 billion annually at end-March 2023, although the debt-GDP ratio declined, as per a Reserve Bank data released on Friday.

The external debt rose by $5.6 billion from $619.1 billion at end-March 2022.

"The external debt to GDP ratio declined to 18.9 per cent at end-March 2023 from 20 per cent at end-March 2022," said the Reserve Bank's data on India's External Debt as at end-March 2023. Valuation gains due to the appreciation of the US dollar compared to the Indian rupee and major currencies such as yen, SDR, and euro were placed at $20.6 billion.

"Excluding the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by $26.2 billion instead of $5.6 billion at end-March 2023 over end-March 2022," the central bank added. At end-March 2023, as per the data, long-term debt (with original maturity of above one year) was placed at $496.3 billion, recording a decline of $1.1 billion over its level at end-March 2022.