Central government debt rises to INR 128.4tn in Q4 2021

Central government debt increased to INR 128.4tn in Q4 2021, from INR 125.7tn in Q3 2021. While the quarter-on-quarter increase in debt was less pronounced in Q4 2021, the year-on-year figure shows a marginal 0.08pp acceleration to 17.5%.

Out of this, the public debt climbed to INR 117.6tn, recording an increase of INR 2.6tn over the previous quarter, as compared to an INR 4.2tn in the previous quarter. The other liabilities form a substantially smaller part of the total, grew to INR 10.7tn. Domestic public debt, comprising of more than 90% of the total public debt, increased to INR 109.5tn.

External debt, which had seen a spectacular increase of INR 1.3tn to INR 8.1tn in the Q3 2021 as compared to the previous quarter, grew more moderately in Q4 2021, to INR 8.2tn. India’s public debt faces upside risks as the threat of inflation looms owing to global supply shocks from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Further data and analysis on India’s economy are available on the CEIC India Economy in a Snapshot – Q1 2022 report.