India rejected the IMF's debt figures, saying the debt was below 2002 levels

India rejected the IMF's debt figures : The International Monetary Fund i.e. IMF has declared an alert regarding the rising debt of India. The International Monetary Fund said in its annual report that this debt poses a long-term risk to India. The total debt of the country has increased to more than 205 lakh crores. In March 2023, the total debt of the country was 200 lakh crore rupees. That means the debt has increased by five lakh crore rupees in the last 6 months. The International Monetary Fund has said in its annual report that if the Indian government continues to borrow at this rate, the debt could reach 100 percent of the total GDP. On the other hand, disagreeing with the International Monetary Fund's warning, the Indian government said that most of the debt is in Indian rupees, so there is no problem.

The Government of India countered with the facts showing disagreement

The Government of India has also put forward some facts showing disagreement on the report of the International Monetary Fund. The Government of India said that the International Monetary Fund's latest Article IV consultation made certain assumptions which were not factually correct.

The contribution of bilateral and multilateral creditors is very minimal

General government debt involves the share of both the central and state governments. It is important to note that the general government debt in India is largely denominated in the Indian currency, the rupee, in which case the contribution of bilateral and multilateral creditors is very minimal.

Average maturity of central government debt is 12 years

Referring to the IMF report, the government said that the debt taken at the domestic level, mainly in the form of government bonds, is mostly medium or short-term with the average maturity of the central government debt being 12 years, due to which the roll over risk for domestic debt is very low. It also has a very low level of risk of exchange rate volatility.

The report only talks about the worst case scenario till the financial year (FY2028) which is not true

The government said that between the plus and minus levels provided by the monetary fund, there is a high probability that the general debt of the government could reach 100 percent of GDP in a situation like the Corona epidemic. This report only talks about the worst case scenario till the financial year (FY2028) which is not true.

The condition of these countries is also bad

For other countries too, such IMF report shows a very bad situation for them. The Monetary Fund's report has given 'worst case' figures for America, Britain and China. According to the report, the 'worst case' percentage is 160 per cent for the US, 140 per cent for Britain and 200 per cent for China. It is much higher than India's 100 percent.

In this century, India faced major shocks

The government said that the shocks that India experienced in this century were also global. For example, shocks like the global economic crisis, the Taper Tetrum, the Corona epidemic, the Russia-Ukraine war have affected the global economies equally. However, in some countries it has not seen any effect. Hence any adverse global shock or event is expected to have an indirect effect on all economies of the interconnected world.

General government debt has declined from around 88 per cent in FY 2020-21 to around 81 per cent in 2022-23.

The government said India has performed relatively well under these circumstances. General government debt (both state and central) has come down from around 88 per cent in FY 2020-21 to around 81 per cent in 2022-23. The Center is on track to achieve its declared target of reducing the fiscal deficit. A target has been set to keep the fiscal deficit below 4.5 percent of GDP by FY 2025-26.

India's total debt in September 2023 is Rs 205 lakh crore

The government also said that the states have also individually made laws regarding their financial responsibilities. It is overseen by the state legislature. So it is hoped that in the medium to short term there will be a significant reduction in general government debt. India's total debt in September 2023 is Rs 205 lakh crore. In which the Government of India has a debt of 161 lakh crore rupees while the state governments have a debt of more than 44 lakh crore rupees.