S&P holds India sovereign rating, says govt debt burden a constraint
[MUMBAI] Standard & Poor's retained its sovereign rating on India despite the government sticking to its fiscal deficit target in Monday's budget as it waited for further improvement in public finances.
S&P said it would wait for the government to improve its net debt and fiscal consolidation and does not expect to change India's BBB- rating with a 'stable' outlook until next year.
"The government's debt burden and subsidy spending continue to significantly constrain its fiscal policy options," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Kyran Curry said in a statement. "Interest payments and subsidies account for almost 40 per cent of total budgetary expenditure."
Inda's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stuck to a stiff fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product for 2016/17 starting April, in sharp contrast to expectations of diverging from the number in his third budget where he spread the benefits of growth more widely among the country's 1.3 billion people.
REUTERS
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
Suzhou Industrial Park: The crown jewel of China-Singapore relations celebrates its 30th year
Saudi Arabia posts budget deficit of US$3.3 billion in first quarter
Top US Treasury official to travel to Singapore, Malaysia to discuss sanctions
Microsoft bets big on South-east Asia, pledges billions in AI and cloud investments
RBA to keep key rate at 12-year high as inflation stirs anew
EU chief says will urge ‘fair’ China competition in talks with Xi