A day after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded India’s sovereign credit rating for the first time in more than two decades, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday used the rating to leverage an attack on government’s handling of economy and said global rating agency Moody’s rated Modi’s handling of India’s economy step above junk.
Citing lack of support to the poor and MSME sector, Gandhi has also issued a warning, saying that the worst is yet to come.
“Moody’s has rated Modi’s handling of India’s economy a step above JUNK. Lack of support to the poor and the MSME sector means the worst is yet to come,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
Moody's has rated Modi's handling of India's economy a step above JUNK.
Lack of support to the poor and the MSME sector means the worst is yet to come.https://t.co/bOtH1P3pBZ
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 2, 2020
The country’s credit rating by Moody’s was downgraded to Baa3 from Baa2, according to a statement. The outlook remained unchanged. “The decision to downgrade India’s ratings reflects Moody’s view that the country’s policymaking institutions will be challenged in enacting and implementing policies which effectively mitigate the risks of a sustained period of relatively low growth, significant further deterioration in the general government fiscal position and stress in the financial sector,” the ratings firm said on Monday.
Moody, which last assigned a rating on India’s sovereign credit rating in November 2018, has also estimated a decrease in India’s GDP by 4 per cent.
‘Baa3’ rating is the lowest investment grade — just a notch above ‘junk’ status. Moody’s had last downgraded India’s rating in 1998.
