Within the emerging economies bunch, Asian countries led the growth in external debt, with China the biggest borrower. Moody’s studied 83 emerging countries that included 17 Asian economies, 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries 26 countries in the Middle East and the rest from Emerging Europe. Also, external debt as a percentage of GDP at 23% is the lowest for India globally, said the Moody’s report. At $474 billion, India’s external debt forms 16% of the total stock in Asia Pacific region while China forms the lion’s share at 47%. The growth in external debt was faster than the growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign exchange reserves of these economies, the report said.

Source: Mint July 21, 2016 12:56 UTC