The Government India has been proactively engaging with prominent global credit rating agencies to improve India’s sovereign credit rating, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Responding to a query on the country’s creditworthiness raised by six MPs, who also sought to know outcomes of any recent meetings held by the government with top international rating agencies, Mr. Chaudhary confirmed the parleys with the rating agencies and said India’s overall rating outlook perked up in the COVID-19 era.
“The outlook for India’s sovereign credit ratings has improved during the pandemic. India’s strong economic growth and resilience to external shocks have been key drivers of the improved sovereign credit profile,” the minister said.
Referring to talks with global rating agencies to upgrade India’s rating over time, Mr. Chaudhary said concerted efforts have been made during periodic credit review meetings, transparency calls and outreach by senior officials of the Government to sensitise them about the “fundamentals of the Indian economy, latest economic developments, growth perspective, fiscal consolidation and commitment to reforms”.
He also reiterated that the government is committed to reduce India’s fiscal deficit to a level below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26, from an estimated 6.4% of GDP in 2022-23 and the target of 5.9% set for 2023-24.
