'Magical moment for India': Ex-Finance Commission Chairman hails Japan's A- rating upgrade, defends new GDP methodology

Former Finance Commission chairman N.K. Singh has welcomed Japan Credit Rating Agency’s (JCR) decision to upgrade India’s sovereign credit rating to A- from BBB+ with a stable outlook, calling it a “magical moment” while also defending the robustness of India’s revised GDP methodology.

JCR upgraded India’s foreign- and local-currency long-term issuer ratings by one notch, citing strong economic growth, robust private consumption, public investment, policy effectiveness and improvements in the financial system.

READ THIS: Japan's rating agency upgrades India from BBB+ to A- with stable outlook; here's why

Reacting to the upgrade, Singh said: “The A-rating upgrade by the Japanese Credit Rating Agency is a magical moment for India and calls for celebration. We need to applaud the robustness of the new GDP methodology. Double deflation is embedded in scientific reasons, long-demanded as a methodological improvement.”

N.K. Singh defends new GDP series

Singh’s comments come amid a debate over India’s latest GDP numbers. India recorded 7.8% real GDP growth in the April-June quarter, exceeding expectations and prompting questions from some critics about the revised methodology.

Addressing criticism over the change in the GDP series, Singh argued that revisions to the base year are standard statistical practice.

“Base years are changed regularly worldwide to reflect changing realities and economic structures. They do ‘not represent a downward revision made to make the current year’s growth appear higher.’ Any such attribution reflects prejudice, and a lack of understanding.”

He further rejected direct comparisons between the old and new GDP series, saying the two methodologies should not be assessed mechanically.

“Comparing mechanically with the old series is apples-to-oranges. The new GDP series is more robust, aligned with global SNA2008 standards using the ‘New Series of Output Producer Price Index (PPI)’. ‘More than 300 individual price deflators’ elicits granularity of the estimate.”

ALSO READ: If the economy is growing at 7.8%, why doesn’t PM Modi want us to travel abroad, buy gold? Sridhar Vembu explains

JCR upgrade comes amid strong growth

JCR’s upgrade provides international recognition of India’s economic momentum. The agency noted that the economy expanded 7.7% in real terms in FY2026 and expects growth to remain above 6% in FY2027. It also highlighted digital public infrastructure, GST implementation, resilient consumption and public investment as factors strengthening India’s economic foundations.