Major reforms undertaken, India deserves rating upgrade: Garg

Days after Fitch Ratings denied India a rating upgrade for the 12th year in a row, the government said the country “deserves” an upgrade on the strength of “major structural and fundamental reforms” undertaken.

In an interview to PTI, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said Fitch's action did not come as a surprise as the rating agency had in discussions earlier indicated its focus on the level of government debt even though it had a very favourable view on India's economy.

“We truly believe, we honestly believe India deserves an upgrade. The performance, macroeconomics parameters everything has stabilised,” he said.

The government, he said, will continue engage with rating agencies and “try to convince” them of “achievement and real performance in the economy.” “The kind of major structural and fundamental reforms undertaken in the country so far are truly global, they are really big,” he said, adding that the goods and services tax (GST) transformed the indirect taxation system in the country and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is transforming the way the country resolves its non-performing assets.

Also, the Rera (Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act) has transformed the realty sector. National biometric ID Aadhaar has institutionalised how to deal with people's identity. He also cited the recently promulgated legislation on dealing with economic offenders fleeing the country.

“One thing I would like to stress is that the kind of reforms undertaken are truly phenomenal and big,” he said.

Fitch had on Friday retained India's sovereign rating at BBB-, the lowest investment grade, with a stable outlook, saying weak fiscal balances continue to constrain its ratings. It had cited government debt amounting to 69 per cent of GDP in 2017-18 to buttress its point.