India's external debt situation highlights:

• According to World Bank, India was 3rd most indebted nation in 1991, and was the 9th most indebted nation in 2001. India's world rank in 2006 was 29th for external debt.

• The US dollar continued to dominate the currency composition of India's external debt at 45 percent. Indian rupee followed at 19 percent, SDRs (16 percent), Japanese yen (11 percent) and euro (5 percent).

• NRI deposits also showed a rise to $32.6 billion in 2004-05 from $31.2 billion. External Debt at end of Dec 2002, consisting of approximately $42b of government debt, $30 b of private sector and rest in NRI deposits.

• As a proportion of GDP, India’s debt is the lowest (20.6%) in the world after China. It was 38.7% in Mar-1992.
• Short-term debt as a proportion of the country’s total debt at 6.1% in 2004-05 up from 3.2% in 2004 compared to 10.2% in 1990-91.
• Debt service as a per cent of current receipts declined from 30.2 per cent in Mar 1992 to 13.7 per cent during end Dec 2002.
• Debt service payments as a proportion of exports is the lowest in the world, after Malaysia and China.

• As a percentage of the forex assets also, short-term debt is only 5% in 2004 and constitutes only 0.7% of the GDP.

• There was a prepayment of debt amounting to $35.1 million during the year 2004-2005 as compared $3.8 billion in the previous fiscal.