Institute for Social and Economic Change

Working Paper: 311

Is India’s Public Debt Sustainable?

Krishanu Pradhan

 

Abstract

The paper assesses the sustainability of public debt in India based on historical time series data on non-monetized liabilities/GDP, revenue/GDP and expenditure/GDP of combined Union and State governments. The assessment based on unit root analysis of non-monetized liabilities/GDP, and co-integrating analysis of expenditure/GDP and revenue/GDP shows the sustainability of public debt, mainly on account of accelerating GDP growth, lower cost of government borrowing, favorable currency composition and longer maturity profile of debt.

Working Papers