India's external debt of $624.7 billion at March-end 2023 with a debt-service ratio of 5.3% is within the comfort zone and modest from a cross-country perspective, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.
In her foreword to 'India's External Debt: A Status Report 2022-23' released earlier this month, Ms. Sitharaman said the ratio of external debt to GDP declined to 18.9% at March-end 2022-23 from 20% a year ago.
The long-term debt constituted 79.4% of total external debt, while short-term debt, which is 20.6% of the total external borrowing, is basically incurred to finance imports, enhancing the stability aspects of the total external debt, she said.
