India's external debt falls 4% to $119.2 bn

[Ulhas Joglekar <joglekarulhas@xxxxxxxx>]

NDTV.com
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India's external debt falls 4%
http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/storybusinessnew.asp?id=30538&template=&cache=3/31/2006%205:24:34%20PM

Friday, March 31, 2006 (New Delhi):

India's external debt declined $5 billion to $119.2 billion at the end of
December 2005 from the previous quarter ending September 2005.

The decline in external debt from $124.2 billion during September-end 2005
was due to a drop in external commercial borrowings, reflecting IMD
redemption by State Bank of India in December.

According to official statistics, long-term debt fell $5.4 billion to 110.26
billion, while short term rose by $533 million to $8.9 billion by
December-end.

The external debt to GDP ratio has further dropped to 17.3 per cent as of
March-end 2005 from 17.8 per cent in the previous year.

Short-term debt

The proportion of short-term debt in total debt as well as the ratio of
short-term debt to foreign current assets rose to 7.5 per cent and 6.8 per
cent respectively by December-end.

Multilateral debt increased $370 million to $31.79 billion in December as
compared to $31.42 billion in the previous quarter. However, this was offset
by a decline in bilateral credits.

Export credit outstanding at $5.16 billion showed no significant change
during the October-December quarter.

External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) stood at $22.43 billion, lower by
$5.88 billion mainly due to IMD redemption and contraction in FII investment
in Indian debt papers. (PTI)