S&P urges Jaitley to maintain fiscal consolidation ahead of Budget 2017

S&P wants Jaitley to reduce the country's debt stock to bolster the prospects of a ratings upgrade.

Standard & Poor's urged Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday to maintain the pace of fiscal consolidation in the annual budget next week and quickly reduce the country's debt stock to bolster the prospects of a ratings upgrade.

The call from S&P's analyst Kyran Curry comes as Jaitley faces pressure ahead of his fourth budget on Feb. 1 to cut taxes and hike spending - even at the cost of an earlier promise to trim the fiscal gap to 3 percent of GDP in 2017/18 from the 3.5 percent budgeted this year.

The ratings agency last November rebuffed New Delhi's pitch