FinMin officials meet Fitch team for rating review

The Finance Ministry officials met Fitch officials for the annual rating review today. CNBC-TV18 learns that during the meeting, the Finance Ministry officials pitched for a rating upgrade, citing strong fundamentals of the Indian economy.The meeting was attended by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, along with other senior officials.“They (Fitch) have some concerns on the NPAs with the banks which can also be explained as a matter of concern for us. But, the concern is on account of wanting our banks to do better than the benchmark. However, the NPAs as assessed today are not anywhere above the benchmark and therefore it is not something where there is suddenly a red light for me,” Arvind Mayaram, Secretary, Dept of Economic Affairs told reporters.Among other matters, sources said the Ministry expressed confidence that the current account deficit (CAD) will be brought down below USD 50 billion dollar or less than 2.5 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal as curbs on gold imports are reaping results and rupee has been range-bound. Last fiscal, the CAD touched a record high of USD 88.2 billion or 4.8 percent of the GDP mainly due to high oil and gold import. The high CAD also put pressure on domestic currency. To contain gold import, the government hiked duty to 10 per cent on inward shipment. As a result, gold imports came down sharply to 19.3 tonnes in November from 162 tonnes in May.The Finance Ministry officials also asserted that investment would increase as Cabinet Committee on Investment and Project Monitoring Group has cleared a number of projects. As many as 287 stalled projects worth Rs 5.5 lakh crore have already been cleared and 250 such projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore are expected to be approved shortly.Indian economy grew by 4.5 per cent in 2012-13 and is expected to grow at less than 5 per cent in the current fiscal. During the first half of the current fiscal, GDP growth was at 4.6 per cent. The agency currently has accorded stable outlook on India's sovereign rating at BBB-. (With inputs from PTI)