Moody's downgrades India's ratings to Baa3; maintains negative outlook

The rating agency said that this downgrade while taken in the context of Covid-19 pandemic has not been driven by its impact

Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) has downgraded the Government of India's foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2. The rating agency has also downgraded India's local-currency senior unsecured rating to Baa3 from Baa2, and its short-term local currency rating to P-3 from P-2. The outlook remains negative.

“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,” Moody's said