Rahul holds Modi responsible for India’s downgraded rating

Rahul Gandhi has questioned the government for the downgrade in India's rating by Moody's

1.Rahul Gandhi questioned the government for India's downgraded rating

Global ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded India’s sovereign rating to the lowest investment grade

2.Moody's downgraded India's rating to the lowest

Moody's said that  the country’s policy making institutions would be challenged in enacting and implementing policies

3.Policy making and challenging will be challenging for India: Moody's

Rahul Gandhi has said,

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."

4 Modi's handling of economy has been rated just above junk:Rahul Gandhi

Moody's predicted  a tougher time for India that would mitigate the risks of a sustained period of low growth

5 Moody's predicted low growth for long time for India

The global agency also forecasts further deterioration in the government fiscal position and stress in the financial sector.

6.Government's fiscal position will deteriorate further:Moody's

The downgrade by Moody’s comes nearly 22 years after it lowered India’s rating on June 19, 1998 in the aftermath of the country’s nuclear tests.

7.The downgrade comes after 22 years

The lowering of the rating — from Baa2 to Baa3 — brings it on a par with S&P and Fitch which rate India at BBB (minus), the lowest investment grade.

8. The rating lowered from Baa2 to Baa3 at par with lowest investment grade

The downgrade comes against the deterioration in the country’s growth prospects as the national lockdown unveiled to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has stalled economic activity.

9.The lockdown majorly contributed to the economic  deterioration

This has also choked revenues, including those from GST prompting the government to raise its market borrowing sharply which economists say will widen its fiscal deficit to around 5.5% of gross domestic product.

10. Lockdown choked revenues resulting in raised borrowings

“While today's action is taken in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it was not driven by the impact of the pandemic.

11. The action on rating was not driven by the pandemic:Moody's

Rather, the pandemic amplifies vulnerabilities in India's credit profile that were present and building prior to the shock, and which motivated the assignment of a negative outlook last year,” the agency said.

12. If the pandemic is counted,Indian credit profile will go lower

The agency said that in turn, a prolonged period of slower growth may dampen the pace of improvements in living standards

13. The slower growth will affect the living standards

The government responded to the growth slowdown with the recent announcement of a 20 lakh crore stimulus package

14. Government announced Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package

Moody's does not expect that these measures will durably restore real GDP growth to rates around 8%, which had seemed within reach just a few years ago,” the statement said

15. These measuresare will not help the economy grow

Congress has questioned the drastic economic downturn of the Indian economy in last 6years of BJP government

16. BJP'S 6 years brought drastic downturn in India's economy