Moody's recognised India's structural reforms: DEA Secretary

Moody's has recognised India's structural reforms, said Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), on Friday.

Moody's has raised India's credit rating from the lowest investment grade of Baa3 to Baa2, and changed the outlook from stable to positive.

Commenting on this, Garg said, "Government was sure that structural reforms are important for the country and we were working in that direction. Moody's has just recognised it," Garg said.

He also refuted allegations that Moody's didn't read country's mood and said international agencies like Moody's are not interested in a country's politics.

"These (Moody's) are internationally acknowledged independent agencies that are not interested in the country's politics and they release their ratings after in-depth research," Garg asserted.

Earlier in the day, Moody's ratings provided a much-needed impetus to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government.

Reports suggest that the global rating company said the reforms undertaken by the government would lead to an enhanced business environment, fuelling the foreign and domestic investment, and subsequently the growth momentum. It also noted that the reforms implemented reduced the risk of a sharp increase in debt, even in potential downside scenarios.

However, Moody argued that measures such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST), demonetisation, and others would need time to settle in, and the impact would be witnessed in due course of time. It also claimed that India's growth potential superseded that of many other sovereign nations.