Private players dominate external debt growth amid economic recovery

External borrowings up 8.2% overall in FY22; private debt accounts for 60%, against 29% a year ago

As economic recovery gained momentum, private players dominated the growth in external debt of the country in financial year 2021-22 (FY22), unlike in FY21.

Of the overall growth of 8.2 per cent in the country’s external debt as of March end, the share of non-sovereign external debt (non-SED) stood at about 60 per cent as compared to 29 per cent a year ago.

In a normal year, it is the relative movements in non-SED that influences the dynamics of external debt. In the pandemic year, on the contrary, it was growth in SED that accounted for a larger share in