In a big boost to the Indian economy, Moody's upgraded India's sovereign rating to Baa2 from Baa3; changes outlook to stable from positive.
Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC said the rating agencies have not been fair to India, the upgrade was long overdue.
According to him, the reforms have been transformational and big bang and not incremental. The reforms have been well executed by the governmnet and so on these ground the upgrades should have come much earlier.
It is too little too late, he said. However, going forward maybe the next upgrades could come quicker, he added.
Talking about the impact of higher oil prices on India, he said there is lot of uncertainty in the OPEC countries.
However, he added that with our reserves at USD 400 billion, India is better prepared and could be able to manage if the oil price went to levels of USD 70-75 per barrel but if they go upto USD 100/bbl and above it would be a killer for India.
The government is using the housing sector to pump-prime the economy. The government on Thursday approved the enhancement of the carpet area of houses for the middle income group (MIG) category under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).
Under the MIG-I category, the carpet area of the houses has been enhanced from 90 sq metres to 120 sq metres, while under the MIG-II segment, it has been increased to 150 sq metres from the current 110 sq metres.
Parekh said that housing would definitely be the engine for growth because it impacts other sectors like cement, steel, labour, building material etc. So, it basically kicks starts the economy.
This government has been the first to give a maximum thrust to housing, he said.
For the full interview, watch video
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