Govt Dismisses Moody’s Warning to PM Modi, Moody’s Responds

Government dismisses Moody’s warning to PM Modi, calls it opinion of junior analyst

Government says the Moody’s Analytics report was a personal opinion of a junior analyst. (Photo: PTI)

The government on Wednesday dismissed a recent report quoted to Moody’s Analytics, saying it was the personal opinion of a junior analyst which 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 had on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must keep the BJP members in check or risk “losing domestic and global credibility”.

<p>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. It is also surprising that no due diligence was done and the readers were not informed about the difference between Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investor Services.</p>

<p><b>Government official release.</b></p>

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.

Responding to an email from The Indian Express, a spokesperson for Moody’s Analytics commented on the statement saying:

<p>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 their potential economic impact, and did not advocate any political agenda or perspective. Moody’s Analytics provides economic research and analysis and is a separate company from Moody’s Investors Service, the ratings agency.</p>

<p>Spokesperson, Moody’s Analytics<br></p>

(With PTI inputs)