Amid allegations of unfair treatment of India by global rating agencies, Moody’s Ratings representatives met finance ministry officials on Thursday to get feedback on the state of the Indian economy for its upcoming rating review of the country.
Sources said Moody’s might factor in the recent India-Pakistan conflict in its upcoming assessment of India’s sovereign rating.
On May 21, Moody’s said that Pakistan-India tensions, including the flare-up earlier in May, would weigh on Pakistan’s growth more than on India’s. Recently, Moody’s lowered India’s GDP estimates to 6.3% from 6.5% for 2025, citing a global economic slowdown caused by heightened US policy uncertainty and trade restrictions.
On Thursday, Moody’s representatives met finance ministry officials, including the chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, for the customary interaction. In December 2023, finance ministry economists had questioned the three big global rating agencies for keeping India’s rating static at the lowest investment grade for the last 15 years despite it moving up the ladder from the 12th largest to become the fifth largest economy. They had said the rating agencies’ methodologies were biased against emerging market developing economies.
Currently, Moody’s maintains India’s sovereign rating at ‘Baa3’ with a stable outlook.