Didn't have a political agenda: Moody's responds to Centre

Just a day after the Centre said that Moody's report urging it to rein in fringe elements or risk losing global credibility is of little value, the ratings agency has said that it did not advocate any political agenda or perspective.

Speaking to the Indian Express newspaper, Moody's said, "The report was published by and is the view of Moody's Analytics as part of its economic outlook series. The report included a section observing political developments in the context of the political economic impact, and did not advocate any political agenda or perspective."

The Central government had issued a statement where it said, "It is surprising that sections of the Indian media failed to make a distinction between Moody's Analytics which is merely a data and analytics firm and Moody's Investor Services, which provides ratings services. Government notes with distress that the personal opinion of a junior analyst was passed off as a commentary on India by a rating agency by the media to buttress the narrative it wants to portray."

The report titled 'Dismal Scientist - India outlook: Searching for Potential' by its analyst Faraz Syed came on Friday in the name of Moody's Analytics.

The release said, "Government notes with distress that the personal opinion of a junior analyst was passed off as a commentary on India by a rating agency by the media to buttress the narrative it wants to portray."