India Inc's credit quality outlook positive for FY24, say Crisil and Icra

Interest rate hikes, global slowdown, stubborn inflation pose risk

The outlook on the credit quality of Indian corporates will be positive for FY24 due to low leverage, domestic demand, healthier banks and uptick in capital expenditure, according to two agencies Crisil and Icra.

However, there is an undertone of caution, as the full impact of the interest rate hikes on domestic demand is yet to be seen and a higher-than-expected global slowdown could further impact exports.

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Also, tightening of global monetary conditions and rupee depreciation could increase refinancing risk particularly for companies with sizeable maturing overseas debt, the agencies said.

Crisil's credit ratio (rating upgrades to downgrades) moderated to 2.19 in second half of FY23 (Mach 2023) as expected, amid global slowdown and high inflation. The ratio stood was at 5.52 times in first half of fiscal 2023 (September 2022). In all, there were 460 upgrades and 210 downgrades across sectors in the second half of FY23.