Moody’s downgrades India’s projected growth rate to minus 11.5% for 2020-’21
However, the credit rating agency also said that India’s economic growth will rebound to 10.6% in the 2021-’22 fiscal year.
Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service on Friday lowered India’s projected Gross Domestic Product growth rate to minus 11.5% for the 2020-’21 financial year, PTI reported. India’s GDP fell 23.9% during the first quarter of 2020-’21, primarily because of a lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
“India’s credit profile is increasingly constrained by low growth, high debt burden and a weak financial system,” Moody’s said according to Mint. “Risks from deeper stresses in Indian economy, financial system can lead to fiscal strength erosion.” The credit rating agency also said that India’s policy-making institutions have struggled to mitigate the risks worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Moody’s also said that India’s economic growth will rebound to 10.6% in the 2021-’22 fiscal year.
On September 8, credit rating agency Fitch Ratings predicted that India’s economy will contract by 10.5% in 2020-’21. The agency, however, forecast that India’s economy will grow by 11% in the financial year 2021-’22 and 6% in 2022-’23.
Domestic rating agency India Ratings and Research, meanwhile, had revised India’s GDP growth forecast for the financial year 2020-’21 to -11.8% from -5.3%.
India is now the world’s second-worst coronavirus-hit country. India reported a record increase of 96,550 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its tally to 45,62,414. The country’s toll rose by 1,209 to 76,271. As many as 35,42,663 people have recovered from the infection. India’s recovery rate is currently 77.65%, while the mortality rate is 1.67%.