Page 2 - Moodys

Moody's revises India's GPD growth forecast to around 8% for FY24

Operating environment for Indian banks to improve in 2024, says Moody's

Moody's ups GDP forecast, India to remain fastest growing G20 nation

Moody's Ratings on Thursday raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY24 to around 8 per cent from 6.6 per cent on the back of strong domestic consumption and capital expenditure. The estimate comes a day after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the economic growth in the current financial year could be close to 8 per cent in view of the third quarter GDP data released by the government. The latest estimate of Moody's is about 140 basis points higher than the earlier projection of 6.6 per cent made in November 2023. The National Statistical Office (NSO) has projected 8.4 per cent growth in December quarter of the current financial year. It has also revised GDP estimates for the first and second quarters to 8.2 per cent and 8.1 per cent from 7.8 per cent and 7.6 per cent, respectively. "We expect India to be the fastest-growing economy among major G20 countries, with its real GDP growth to accelerate to around 8 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2024 (fiscal 2023-24) from 7 per

'Private credit returns will be pressured by banks as competition rises'

As banks compete harder to win big deals, recent private credit loans have priced at some of the tightest spreads on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg

Microsoft, Walmart help Israeli VC Team8 raise $500 mn to support startups

Moody's Corp. and Temasek Holdings Pte also backed the three new funds and follow-on funding that brings Team8's assets under management to more than $1 billion

Adani shares buck trend, rally up to 5% in a slippery market

Renewed confidence among overseas investment firms has helped lift sentiment at the Adani Group counters on BSE and NSE.

Moody's revises outlook on 4 Adani firms to 'stable' from 'negative'

The global ratings agency changed the outlook to 'stable' on Adani Green, Adani Electricity Mumbai, Adani Transmission, and Adani Energy Solutions

Israel hit with first ever downgrade as Moody's cites impact of war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision does not reflect the state of the country's economy

Moody's downgrades agri solutions provider UPL, maintains negative outlook

Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded agriculture solutions provider UPL to Ba1 and maintained the negative outlook on deterioration in the agrochemical industry. Moody's has downgraded the senior unsecured rating for UPL Corporation (UPL Corp) to Ba1 from Baa3 and has also downgraded the rating on the long-term junior subordinated rating on UPL Corp's USD 400 million undated perpetual Eurobonds to Ba3 from Ba2, the credit rating agency said in a statement. Further, Moody's has assigned a Ba1 corporate family rating (CFR) to UPL Corp and withdrawn the company's Baa3 issuer rating. "The downgrade to Ba1 is driven by a protracted deterioration in the agrochemical industry fundamentals that will keep UPL's credit metrics weaker than our expectation for an investment-grade rating," Moody's Senior Vice President Kaustubh Chaubal said. The Moody's rating action is following UPL's weak operating results for the third quarter of the fiscal ending March 2024 .

Moody's downgrades ratings of 17 Chinese local govt financing vehicles

It left the ratings of nine other Chinese LGFVs unchanged but cut their outlooks to negative too due to the same pressures.

Insurance sector may see further listing, M&A in coming months: Moody's

Having raised Rs 1,930 crore in FY23, the insurance sector may witness further capital transactions, including stock market listings and M&A, to improve the sector's capital adequacy and financial flexibility in the months ahead, a report said. Indian insurers' favourable growth prospects have encouraged the sector to raise capital, outweighing the adverse impact of their weak underwriting profitability, Moody's said in a report. In FY23, the sector's paid capital rose to Rs 75,300 crore from Rs 73,400 crore a year earlier, an increase of 2.6 per cent. "We expect more such transactions, as well as more merger and acquisition (M&A) deals and initial public offerings (IPOs), to improve the Indian insurance sector's capital adequacy and financial flexibility in the months ahead," it said. The report said foreign insurers would continue investing in the Indian insurance market and many foreign companies already present in the country through joint ventures could seek to increase ..

Strength of next govt's mandate to influence fiscal consolidation: Moody's

Moody's Investors Service on Monday said the strength of the next government's mandate following parliamentary elections this year will influence the medium-term trajectory for fiscal consolidation and governance in India. It said a moderation in economic conditions in the US and the persistence of subdued growth in the euro area in 2024 will further dampen demand for goods produced in Asia Pacific and curb global commodity prices, but large emerging markets like India will be able to mitigate the impact. Moody's in its 2024 outlook for APAC sovereigns said that the forthcoming elections, particularly those with greater likelihood of leadership transitions, including Indonesia, pose a degree of policy uncertainty as governments seek to manage key geopolitical relationships, especially regarding China and the US, current economic and fiscal strains, and longer-term commitments toward addressing climate change. The prevalence of social risks amid political transition could undermine .

JSW USA to raise $145 mn loan for capex Moody's affirms stable ratings

Company's reliance on long-term external financing will be critical, says agency

Ahead of China credit outlook cut, Moody's asked staff to work from home

The department heads in the agency asked its non-administrative staff in Beijing and Shanghai not to go into the office this week

Moody's issues negative outlook for banks with tightening monetary policies

Central banks' restrictive monetary measures may impact GDP growth and amplify challenges for global banks in 2024, warns Moody's

Chinese experts push back at Moody's for cutting sovereign bond outlook

"The rating agency's understanding of how the Chinese economy works and how the Chinese government functions is not deep enough and does not reflect the reality," Feng added

Moody's cuts outlook on China's sovereign bonds to negative on rising debt

Moody's lowered its outlook to negative from stable while retaining a long-term rating of A1 on the nation's sovereign bonds, according to a statement

Higher risk weight on unsecured bank loans credit positive: Moody's

The RBI's decision to tighten norms for unsecured personal loans is credit positive because lenders will need to allocate higher capital for such loans, thus improving their loss-absorbing buffers, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday. The Reserve Bank last week raised risk weights on unsecured retail loans, credit cards and lending to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) by 25 percentage points. Moody's said unsecured loans have been growing rapidly in the past few years, exposing financial institutions to a potential spike in credit costs in case of sudden economic or interest rate shocks. The tightening of underwriting norms through higher risk-weighted assets is credit positive because lenders will need to allocate higher capitals for such loans improving their loss-absorbing buffers and may dampen their growth appetite, Moody's said in a statement. It said that over the past few years, India's unsecured lending segment has become very competitive, with banks, NBFCs and ..

Domestic demand to sustain India growth in the near term, says Moody's

Economy's strong second-quarter momentum continued in the third quarter, says agency's 'Global Macro Outlook 2024' report

Moody's upgrades Tata Motors' ratings to Ba3; outlook remains positive

It also upgraded Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc's (JLR) CFR to "Ba3" from "B1"

Fuel price hike unlikely despite oil price surge as polls loom: Moody's

Petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to be increased despite firming raw material costs because of upcoming general elections next year, Moody's Investors Service said. Three state-owned fuel retailers -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) -- which control roughly 90 per cent of the market, have kept petrol and diesel prices on freeze for a record 18 months in a row. This is despite the raw material (crude oil) cost surging last year, leading to heavy losses in first half of 2022-23 fiscal year before easing oil prices propelled them to profitability. International oil prices have firmed up since August, leading to margins of three retailers turning negative again. "High crude oil prices will weaken the profitability of the three state-owned oil marketing companies in India -- IOC, BPCL and HPCL," Moody's said in a report. "The three companies will have limited flexibility to pass on higher raw mate