Paris, April 9 (IANS) On a day when India’s credit rating outlook was upgraded to “positive” by Moody’s, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said the Indian economic expansion continues to firm up even as growth eases in China.
“CLIs (Composite Leading Indicators) signal growth easing in China and Canada, albeit from relatively high levels. In Brazil and Russia, CLIs point to a loss in growth momentum while in India, the CLI continues to indicate firming growth,” the think tank of developed nations based in the French capital said in a statement.
CLIs are designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trends.
India’s CLI has been on the rise since October 2014 and touched 99.5 in February this year.
The Indian economy is projected to grow at 7.4 percent in 2014-15, making it the fastest growing large economy in the world.
Ratings agency Moody’s on Thursday said its Baa3 rating on the country reflects the fact that higher levels of growth and infrastructure development will be accompanied by better prospects, adding credit improvements over the next 12-18 months will depend on the extent to which growth, policies and buffers can contain risks.
“India’s Baa3 government bond rating incorporates the credit strengths, such as its diversified economy, robust growth prospects, relatively high domestic savings rate and a high international reserve buffers,” it said.
“It also reflects India’s weaker performance, relative to peers, on fiscal, inflation and infrastructure-related metrics. And while policies are beginning to address each of these factors, the extent of likely improvements is as yet unclear,” it said.