Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 923 Sun. December 31, 2006  
   
Business


India's external debt increases


Higher external commercial borrowings, NRI deposits and short-term debt pushed up India's external debt by 3.3 percent to USD 136.5 billion in September 2006 compared to the previous quarter.

External debt rose by USD 4.3 billion from USD 132.2 billion at the end of June 2006, a finance ministry statement said.

Long-term debt grew by USD 1.8 billion to USD 125.9 billion, while short-term debt rose 16.2 per cent over the quarter to USD 10.57 billion at the end of September 2006 on account of higher import bill.

In terms of their share in total debt stock, non-resident deposits accounted for 26.8 per cent of the debt.

This was followed by multilateral debt at 24.6 per cent and commercial borrowings at 23.8 per cent. The share of bilateral debt stood at 11.5 per cent.