What we must focus on for India to get a sovereign rating upgrade
Photo: BloombergPremium
Deep Mukherjee
Our risk of a downgrade in the next 12 months is negligible but we must improve on qualitative factors within our control
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India’s handling of its sovereign-rating issues over the past two decades may be described as reactive and restrictive. Much commentary by stakeholders tends to appear around events that entail a perceived threat of a downgrade or a moonshot at an upgrade. The debate so far has largely been focused on a narrow set of rating drivers, such as India’s low external debt, high growth rate, fiscal deficit and some irrelevant factors like the size of India’s economy. The cohesive government effort that saw India improve its rank on Ease of Doing Business (EODB) charts is missing when it comes to its sovereign rating. The starting point for that should be a more nuanced understanding, by all stakeholders, of the what and hows of the global sovereign-rating process. This will help in formulating a pragmatic plan for sustaining and hopefully improving India’s rating.