India's external debt declined by five billion dollar to $119.2 billion at the end of December 2005 from the previous quarter ending September following the redemption of India Millennium Deposits.
The four per cent decline in external debt from 124.2 billion dollars during September-end 2005 was due to a drop in external commercial borrowings, reflecting IMD redemption by the country's largest bank State Bank of India in December.
Of the total external debt, long-term debt fell $5.4 billion to $110.26 billion while short term rose by $533 million to $8.9 billion in December-end, according to official statistics.
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. 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 in December-end 2005.
Under long-term debt, multilateral debt increased by $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 by $322 million , which stood at $15.55 billion.
{{/usCountry}}Under long-term debt, multilateral debt increased by $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 by $322 million , which stood at $15.55 billion.
{{/usCountry}}Export credit outstanding at $5.16 billion showed no significant change during the October-December quarter. ECBs stood at $22.43 billion , lower by $5.88 billion mainly due to IMD redemption.