Centre’s debt profile safe and prudent; external debt-to-GDP ratio eases: Finance Ministry

The Central government’s debt profile remains safe and the share of its external debt in the country’s gross domestic product dropped to 2.7% in FY23 from 3.3% in FY14 at the current exchange rate, the finance ministry told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

In a written reply, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said: “The risk profile of Central government’s debt stands out as safe and prudent in terms of accepted parameters of indicator-based approach for debt sustainability. The government debt is held predominantly in domestic currency.”

The share of the government’s external debt in its overall debt burden also dropped to 4.8% in FY23 from 6.4% in FY14, he said.

In absolute terms, the external debt rose to Rs 7,48,895 crore in FY23 from Rs 3,74,484 crore in FY14, while India’s nominal GDP grew to Rs 272.41 lakh crore from Rs 112.34 lakh crore during this period.

The Central government’s total debt improved to 57.1% of GDP in FY23 from 61.5% in the pandemic year of FY21 when the government was forced to undertake massive borrowing to offer relief packages in light of a plunge in revenue mop-up.

Before the pandemic (in FY20), the Centre’s debt was to the tune of 52.4% of GDP, against 52.2% in FY14, according to the data shared by Chaudhary. In absolute terms, the Centre’s debt stood at Rs 155.6 lakh crore in FY23.At Rs 1,69,381 crore, Japan accounts for the biggest chunk of India’s external debt, followed by the Asian Development Bank (Rs 1,61,193 crore), the International Development Association (Rs 1,53,736 crore) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Rs 1,35,746 crore).Almost 70% of India’s external debt of Rs 7,48,895 crore has been mobilised through multilateral agencies, while 30% from bilateral sources. Japan accounts for almost 75% of the debt via bilateral sources, while Russia and Germany make up 11% and 10%, respectively.