Country’s external debt rose by USD 9.9 billion or 5.5% during July-September 2007 to USD 190.5 billion, an official release stated.

Of the USD 9.9-billion rise in external debt during the second quarter, around USD 5 billion was due to weakening dollar against major international currencies and the rupee, it added.

India’s external debt till the end of first quarter of this fiscal was USD180.6 billion, which grew to USD190.5 billion as on September 30.

The rise in external debt outstanding over the quarter ending September 2007 was essentially brought about by a rise in overseas borrowings, NRI deposits, multilateral debt and short term debt.

An official release said that during the half year (April-September), the external debt stock in terms of the US dollar has risen by USD 21 billion (12.3 %), of which USD 7 billion was accounted for by the depreciation US dollar in the global market.

In term of Rupees, the increase in external debt during this period was Rs. 17,868 crore or 2.4%, release added.

According to the data released by government, the major currency of denomination in India’s external debt portfolio continued to be the U.S. dollar, accounting for 52.8% of total external debt till the end of September.

As at September 30, 2007, the share of long-term debt in total external debt was 83.8% or USD 159.7 billion while, the short-term debt stood at USD 30.8 billion, accounting for 16.2 % of the total external debt.

Commercial borrowings accounted at share of 27.2% in total external debt outstanding at September 30, while NRIs accounted at 22.9%, multilateral debt at 19.5% and bilateral debt at 8.7%.

The Export credit and Rupee debt accounted for 4.5% and 1.1%, respectively.