External debt
- How often
- Every quarterAbout three months after the quarter
- Last released
- 30 Sep 2026Q1 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026)
April–June 2026, up from $762.8 bn in January–March 2026.
Events on this chart
Source: RBI, released 30 Sep 2026 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- $762.8 bnQ4 2025-26 (Jan–Mar 2026)
- Highest
- $778.2 bnQ1 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026)
- Lowest
- $668.9 bnQ4 2023-24 (Jan–Mar 2024)
5 readings since Q4 2023-24 (Jan–Mar 2024).
Story
What India owes to lenders abroad.
What is happening now As of Q1 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026)
India's external debt was $778.2 billion at the end of June 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reports. That is $15.4 billion more than at the end of March 2026 and $31.4 billion (4.2%) more than a year earlier. The dollar rose against the yen and the euro, which cut the debt's dollar value by $0.9 billion; without that, the debt would have grown by $16.4 billion.
Short-term debt, borrowed for up to a year, was 19.7% of the total and equal to 23.0% of the reserves, up from 21.6% in March. Reserves covered 85.9% of the debt, down from 90.6%, and repayments plus interest took 5.6% of current receipts. In June 2026 the RBI opened a swap facility to attract foreign currency borrowing and deposits; it partly credits the facility for a 93.4% rise, to $30.4 billion, in agreements for external commercial borrowing in April–August 2026.
Why it matters
External debt is money that Indian borrowers must repay to lenders abroad, mostly in foreign currency. Repayments and interest use foreign exchange, so a large or fast-growing debt can strain the reserves and the rupee, especially when much of it falls due within a year.
Borrowing abroad lets Indian companies, banks and the government raise money beyond what is available at home. But when the rupee falls, debt owed in dollars costs more rupees to repay. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government use these figures to judge whether reserves are large enough and to set the rules on foreign borrowing.
What it is
External debt is what Indian residents owe to lenders abroad: the government, banks, companies and other borrowers. It takes the form of loans, deposits such as those of non-resident Indians, trade credit and bonds.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) publishes the position at the end of every quarter, about three months later, following the External Debt Statistics Guide of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The total is counted in US dollars. At the end of June 2026 about 55% of the debt was in dollars and about 30% in rupees; the rest was in yen, euros and Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF's reserve unit.
Debt rises with new borrowing and falls with repayment. Exchange rates also move it: a stronger dollar shrinks the dollar value of debt held in rupees, yen or euros. Short-term debt, due within a year, matters most in a crisis, because it must be repaid or rolled over soon.
Read this number
- The publisher
- The Reserve Bank of India is India's central bank. It manages money supply, bank regulation, the rupee and the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Terms on this page (3)
- GDP
- Gross Domestic Product
- IMF
- International Monetary Fund
- RBI
- Reserve Bank of India
History
- 1990-91Debt service, the repayment of loans plus interest, takes about 21% of current account receipts, the July 1991 Budget estimates, as the balance of payments heads into the 1991 crisis.
- 2002-03Reserves cover 72% of external debt, up from 10.8% in 1991-92.
- Mar 2026Reserves cover 90.6% of external debt.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026) | $778.2 bn | Provisional | 30 Sep 2026 |
| Q4 2025-26 (Jan–Mar 2026) | $762.8 bn | Provisional | 29 Jun 2026 |
| Q1 2025-26 (Apr–Jun 2025) | $746.8 bn | Revised | 30 Sep 2026 |
| Q4 2024-25 (Jan–Mar 2025) | $736.4 bn | Revised | 29 Jun 2026 |
| Q4 2023-24 (Jan–Mar 2024) | $668.9 bn | Revised | 29 Jun 2026 |
For UPSC
Know the main parts of external debt: loans, deposits of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), trade credit and bonds. Know the difference between short-term and long-term debt, the valuation effect, and the ratios used to judge safety: debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reserves to debt and debt service.