India using right policies to lower high debt level: IMF

Washington: India has “quite a high” debt to GDP ratio, but New Delhi is trying to lower it using “the right policies”, the International Monetary Fund has said. Indias general government debt remained relatively high, at 70 per cent of the GDP in 2017, Abdel Senhadji, Deputy Director, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department, told reporters at a news conference here.

“The debt level is relatively high (in India), but the authorities are planning to bring it down over the medium term with the right policies,” Senhadji said. In fiscal year 2017-18, India is planning to continue with the consolidation in the current fiscal year and over the medium term, the top IMF official said.

“They are, in fact, targeting their federal deficit of three percent over the medium term, and they are targeting also a debt ratio of 40 per cent over the medium term at the federal level, which corresponds to about 60 per cent at the general government level. And we believe that those targets are appropriate,” the IMF official said.