NEW DELHI(PTI): Indias external debt touched a massive 718 billion dollars at the end of 1991 with a lion’s Share of the debt component comprising of long term and multilateral debts according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) In its just released 1992 survey on financing and external debt of developing countries the Paris based intergovernmental think tank of 24 rich industrial countries said Indias aggregate identified debt zoomed from 32.4 billion dollars in 1984 to 64.4 billion dollars in 1990 and to 71.8 billion dollars in 1991.
While debt owed to OECD countries including Official Development Assistance (ODA) being granted at low rate of interest amounted to 30.1 billion dollars in 1991 Indias debt from multilateral institutions amounted to 28 billion dollars.
India’s debt to non OECD creditors including Arab countries amounted 108.1 billion dollars in 1991. Even at the beginning of the decade India’s short term debt stood at a high of 4.8 billion dollars in 1990 which fell to 37 billion dollars by 1991. Altogether India’s debt service payments amounted to 5.2 billion dollars in 1991 which is slightly below the 1990 figure of 5.6 billion dollars.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 7, 1994
