India's external debt eases on valuation gains in Q1FY2014

External debt to GDP ratio increased to 22.7% at end June 2013

* India's external debt declined to $388.5 billion as at end-June 2013, showing a decline of $3.6 billion or 0.9% over the end-March 2013.

* In terms of major components, the share of ECBs continued to be the highest at 30.7% of total external debt, followed by short-term debt (24.9%) and NRI deposits (18.3%).

* The share of short-term debt in total debt rose over the preceding as well as corresponding quarter of the previous year. The long-term debt at $291.8 billion and short-term debt at $96.8 billion accounted for 75.1% and 24.9%, respectively, of the total external debt as at end-June 2013.

* The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves rose to 34.3% as at end-June 2013 from 33.1% as at end-March 2013.

* Based on residual maturity, the short-term debt accounted for 43.8% of total external debt as at end-June 2013. Within the short-term debt, the share of NRI deposits was 28.1%.

* The valuation gain during the first quarter of 2013-14 amounted to $9.5 billion reflecting the appreciation of US dollar against the Indian rupee and other major currencies. Thus, excluding the valuation gains, the stock of external debt as at end-June 2013 would have increased by 5.9 billion.

* The US Dollar denominated debt continued to be the largest with a share of 58.9% in the total external debt as at end-June 2013, followed by Indian rupee (22.6%), SDR (7.6%), Japanese Yen (6.0%) and Euro (3.2%).

* Government (Sovereign) external debt stood at $78.4 billion as at end-June 2013 as against $81.7 billion as at end-March 2013. The shares of Government and non-Government external debt in the total external debt were 20.2% and 79.8%, respectively, as at end-June 2013.

* India's external debt to GDP ratio increased to 22.7% at end June 2013 from 21.3% at end-March 2013 level.

* Ratio of foreign exchange reserves to external debt declined to 72.7% at end June 2013 from 74.5% as at end-March 2013.

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