A lot of uncertainty over India’s sovereign rating has been cleared by S&P which has retained the BBB– grade with stable outlook. After Moody’s had lowered India’s rating to a similar level earlier with negative outlook there was debate on how the other agencies would react. The view taken by S&P appears to be more balanced as it has factored in the challenges and opportunities that the country faces but takes a different view that the economy will regain poise in FY22 and grow by 8.5 per cent after falling by 5 per cent this year. It is certainly more sanguine about the prospects given the strong fundamentals which can help to withstand the Covid-19 impact. Lets us see the positives that have been highlighted by the rating agency. Three things stand out. First growth prospects appear to be above average post Covid-19 which is realistic. Second, the external situation is very good. Contrary to expectations in FY20 and the shutdown, the forex reserves have been moving upward