 "Growth prospects weak, little chance of improvement in 2014")
"Complicated taxes and regulations, weak infrastructure, and a weak central government weigh on confidence and demand. This will turn around eventually, but not in 2014, keeping GDP growth below potential," Moody's said in a report.
The May elections open possibility of better governance, it said.
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Monetary policy over the past three years has been at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive, but this is changing under the new central bank head, Moody's said.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has made lower inflation the central bank's primary goal, meaning further rate hikes are likely in the near term, it added.
Rajan, who delivered two repo rate hikes of 0.25% each in as many policy reviews since he took over on September 4, had mentioned that he considered fighting inflation as the central bank's "key responsibility."
RBI is expected to raise repo rate once again tomorrow by 0.25% in its bid to tame inflation.
Wholesale Price Index inflation in November climbed to a 14-month high of 7.52% as prices of food items such as onions and potatoes surged. Consumer price inflation touched a nine-month high of 11.24% last month.
India's current account deficit has narrowed, for example, which should mute the impact of Fed policy on the rupee. Moody's expect less financial volatility in 2014, but this outlook is uncertain.
Financial shocks are by definition unforeseen, and even if the source is unknown, some volatility should be anticipated giventhe parlous state of global recovery, it said.