The central government's debt over the most recent nine years has risen 174%, while there has been a 100 percent increase in external debt during a similar period, i.e., between 2013–14 and 2022–23. External debt is a part of the government's total debt.
Central government's debt was Rs 58.6 lakh crore (52.2 percent of Gross domestic product) as of March 31, 2014, which went up by 174% to Rs 155.6 lakh crore (57.1 percent of Gross domestic product) as of March 31, 2023, according to the Finance Ministry.
More importantly, the government's external debt, which was 374,484 crore in 2013–14, will increase by 100% to 7,48,895 crore in 2022–23. The external debt of the state is mainly financed by various institutions and their affiliates.
Meanwhile, between 2019-20 and 2020-21, there was a sharp ascent of 16% in the central government's debt, which official sources said was basically because of the COVID pandemic that tremendously upset projections of the Center's public finances.
Toward the end of 2019–20, the Central government's debt was Rs 105.1 lakh crore, which expanded by 16% to Rs 121.9 lakh crore toward the end of 2020–21.
Despite the rise in the Central government's debt over the last nine years, official sources said that the risk profile of the Center's debt stands apart as protected and reasonable in terms of accepted parameters of an indicator-based approach for debt sustainability. Government debt is held predominantly in domestic currency.
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