December 2007


India’s External Debt for the quarter ended-September 2007 [Hindi]

Repayment of 5.73 per cent Government Stock 2008 and 4.69 per cent Government Stock
2008 on January 2, 2008

Issue of ‘8.30 per cent   Fertilizer Companies’ Government of India Special Bonds, 2023’

India’s External Debt for the quarter ended-September 2007

At the end of September 2007, India's external debt stock stood at US $ 190.5 billion 
(Rs.757,967 crore), increasing by an amount of US$ 9.9 billion (5.5 per cent) over the quarter 
(Table), of which around US$ 5 billion is explained by valuation change arising out of weakening 
US dollar against major international currencies and Indian Rupees.  The external debt stock series
stand revised from March 2005 due to the inclusion of suppliers’ credits of less than 180 days under short-term debt.  (For details see Annex I of the full Report.)  

During the half year, April-September 2007 external debt stock in terms of US dollar has risen
by US$ 21 billion (12.3 per cent), of which US$ 7 billion is accounted for by the depreciation of US 
dollar in the international market.  In terms of rupees, the increase in external debt of India during 
this period was only Rs. 17,868 crore or 2.4 per cent. The rise in external debt outstanding over the
quarter ending September 2007 was essentially brought about by a rise in external commercial
borrowings, NRI deposits, multilateral debt and short term debt.

 

Table: India's External Debt
(US $ million)
Items	Debt Outstanding at end			Variation
				Absolute		Per cent
	March 2007  R	June 2007  R	Sept. 2007 QE	Mar. 07 to Sept. 07    (4-2)	June  07 to Sept. 07    (4-3)	Mar. 07 to Sept. 07	June  07 to Sept. 07
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Multilateral	35,337	36,058	37,067	1,730	1,009	4.9	2.8
2. Bilateral	16,062	15,841	16,659	597	818	3.7	5.2
3. IMF	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	-	-
4. Export credit	7,083	7,747	8,505	1,422	758	20.1	9.8
5. Commercial Borrowings	41,722	47,729	51,770	10,048	4,041	24.1	8.5
6. NRI Deposits (long-term)	41,240	42,603	43,643	2,403	1,040	5.8	2.4
7. Rupee debt	1,946	2,032	2,081	135	49	6.9	2.4
8. Long-term debt (1 to 7)	143,390	152,010	159,725	16,335	7,715	11.4	5.1
9. Short-term debt	26,239	28,568	30,791	4,552	2,223	17.3	7.8
10. Total debt (8+9)	169,629	180,578	190,516	20,887	9,938	12.3	5.5
R: Revised            QE: Quick Estimates

 

            The share of long-term debt in total external debt at end-September 2007 was 83.8 
per cent (US$ 159.7 billion).  Component-wise, under long-term debt, multilateral and bilateral debt
rose by US$ 1.0 billion and US$ 0.8 billion to US$ 37.1 billion and US$ 16.7 billion, respectively.  
Export credit outstanding showed an increase of US$ 0.8 billion, reaching US$ 8.5 billion.  The stock
of commercial borrowings at US$ 51.8 billion and NRI deposits at US$ 43.6 billion were higher by 
US$ 4.0 billion and US$ 1.0 billion, respectively, as compared to those at the end of the preceding
quarter.  Rupee debt remained broadly at the same level of around US$ 2 billion as at the end of 
previous quarter.  

Commercial Borrowings accounted for the highest share of 27.2 per cent in total external 
debt outstanding at end-September 2007.  As a proportion of the total external debt, Non-Resident Indian deposits accounted for 22.9 per cent of the total debt at end-September 2007, followed by multilateral debt at 19.5 per cent and bilateral debt at 8.7 per cent.  Export credit and Rupee debt accounted for 4.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.  

In respect of short-term debt, the coverage is now made more comprehensive, with the 
inclusion of  (i) suppliers’ credits up to six months and (ii) investment by Foreign Institutional 
Investors (FII) in short-term debt instruments.  As at end-September 2007, short-term debt stood 
at US$ 30.8 billion, accounting for 16.2 per cent of the total external debt.   

            The total external debt at end-September 2007 considered in terms of sovereign debt 
(US$ 51.3 billion) and private debt (US$ 139.2 billion) was in the ratio of 26.9 : 73.1.  While the 
foreign exchange reserves cover for external debt rose to 130 per cent at end-September 2007, 
debt servicing as a proportion of gross external current receipts (debt-service ratio) has declined 
from 9.9 per cent in 2005-06 to 4.8 per cent in 2006-07 and further to 4.5 per cent during April-September 2007.   

            The major currency of denomination in India’s external debt portfolio continued to be US 
dollar, accounting for 52.8 per cent of total external debt at end-September 2007. 

The complete text of this report is available on the Ministry of Finance Website:
http://www.finmin.nic.in

 

The release on balance of payments data for July-September 2007 is available on the Reserve Bank 
of India’s website:

http://www.rbi.org.in

F. No. 1(42)/ 2007-EDMU
New Delhi December 31, 2007

                                                                                               

            The Press Information Bureau is requested to place this Press Release in public domain.

                                                                                                          (R.C.Srinivasan)
                                                                                               Senior Economic Adviser

Shri B.S.Chauhan,
Director (Press Relations),
Department of Economic Affairs,
Ministry of Finance,
North Block,
New Delhi

Repayment of 5.73 per cent Government Stock 2008 and 4.69 per cent Government
Stock 2008 on January 2, 2008

The outstanding balances of 5.73 per cent Government Stock, 2008 and 4.69 per cent Government Stock 2008 are repayable at par on January 2, 2008 and no interest will accrue thereon from the said date.  In the event of a holiday being declared on January 2, 2008 by any State Government under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the Loan will be repaid by the paying offices in that State on the previous working day.

 

2.      To facilitate repayment of the Loan on the due date, holders may tender the securities, duly discharged, at the Public Debt Offices, Treasuries/Sub-Treasuries and branches of State Bank of India and its Associate Banks (at which they are enfaced /registered for payment of interest) 20 days in advance of the due date for repayment. 

 

3.         Full details of the procedure for receiving the discharge value may be obtained from any of the aforesaid paying offices.

 

 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Economic Affairs

New Delhi-110 001

 

Dated December 7, 2007

Issue of ‘8.30 per cent   Fertilizer Companies’ Government of India Special Bonds,
2023’

Government of India have announced the issue of  ‘8.30 per cent Fertilizer Companies’
Government of India Special Bonds, 2023’ for Rs.3,890 crore (nominal), The first
tranche of the Special Bonds are being issued at par to 22 Fertilizer Companies
(list enclosed) as compensation towards fertilizer subsidy during the current financial
year on December 7, 2007 (Friday).

2.        The investment in the Special Bonds by the banks will not be reckoned as an
eligible investment in Government securities by banks and insurance companies for
their statutory requirements. However, such investment by the insurance companies
will be eligible to be reckoned as investment under “other Approved Securities”
category as defined under Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
(Investment) Regulations, 2000. Further, the investment by the Provident Funds,
Gratuity Funds, Superannuation Funds, etc. in the Special Bonds will be treated as
an eligible investment under the administrative order of the Ministry of Finance.

3.    The Special bonds will be transferable and eligible for market ready forward
transactions (Repo).  The bonds, however, will not be an eligible underlying security
for ready forward transactions (Repo/Reverse repo) with the Reserve Bank of India.  

Government of India

   Ministry of Finance

Department of Economic Affairs

New Delhi

   Dated the December 7, 2007.

List of eligible Companies and allocation of ‘8.30 per cent Fertilizer Companies Government
of India Special Bonds, 2023’.

                                                                                                       (Rs. in crore)