How much debt does the country have right now...?
The debt on the central government is increasing every year. Recently, while answering a question in the Lok Sabha, minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that in 2018-19 this debt was Rs 93.26 lakh crore. By 2024-25 it will increase to Rs 185.27 lakh crore. In 2018-19 the debt was 49.3% of GDP, by 2024-25 it will increase to 56.8% of GDP. That is, the debt will almost double in 6 years.
The government says that many economic challenges came in the last 6 years. The government spent to meet the needs of the people. Therefore the debt increased, but it was done thoughtfully. At the same time, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India's position is good compared to other countries. India's foreign debt is less. Out of the total foreign debt, only 18.7% is short-term debt. This is less than China, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, south africa and Bangladesh. Short-term debt means there is less tension of repaying it quickly. India is the country with the third lowest debt in the ratio of total foreign debt and GDP.
Before Corona, in the financial year 2019-20, the government debt increased to Rs 105.07 lakh crore. This was 52.3% of the country's GDP. During Corona, in 2020-21, the debt increased further to Rs 121.86 lakh crore. It has been told that the government borrowed money to help the people. This was necessary for relief package and economic help. After the Corona epidemic, the debt increased to Rs 138.66 lakh crore in 2021-22. But this was 58.8% of GDP i.e. less than last year. The economy started improving slowly, but the amount of debt kept increasing.
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