Foreign debt climbs: India’s external debt rises 10% to $736.3 billion in FY25; debt-to-GDP edges up to 19.1%

India’s external debt rose 10% to $736.3 billion on the finish of March 2025 from $668.8 billion a 12 months earlier, in accordance to knowledge launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. The debt-to-GDP ratio additionally inched up to 19.1% from 18.5% in FY24.The enhance features a $5.3 billion valuation affect due to the appreciation of the US greenback towards the rupee and different currencies. Excluding this impact, the underlying enhance in debt was $72.9 billion, PTI reported.Breakdown of debt compositionThe non-financial company sector accounted for the biggest share, borrowing $261.7 billion. Deposit-taking firms excluding the central financial institution owed $202.1 billion, whereas the federal government’s share of external debt stood at $168.4 billion.Long-term debt (with unique maturity above one 12 months) rose by $60.6 billion to $601.9 billion. Meanwhile, the share of short-term debt in complete external liabilities declined to 18.3% from 19.1% a 12 months in the past. However, the ratio of short-term debt to overseas alternate reserves rose barely to 20.1%, up from 19.7% on the finish of FY24, the report mentioned.Debt devices and forex combine

The US greenback continued to dominate India’s overseas borrowing, accounting for 54.2% of the whole external debt. Other currencies in the debt combine included the Indian rupee (31.1%), Japanese yen (6.2%), Special Drawing Rights (4.6%), and euro (3.2%).