US downgrade a grave concern: FM

New Delhi, Aug 6: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today (Saturday, Aug 6) described the downgrading of the US government by credit rating agency as a "grave situation" and said it has to be analysed.

"We will have to analyse it. It will require some time. Situation is grave and there is no gain in making off-the-cuff remarks," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The Reserve Bank, however, had said that India will have to learn to live with volatility in the global economy.

The US's downgrade, the S&P said, reflects its opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan which Congress and the administration recently agreed to "falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government''s medium-term debt dynamics." Other prominent credit rating agencies - Moody''s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings - affirmed their AAA credit ratings even as President Barack Obama signed a bill that ended the debt-ceiling impasse that pushed the Treasury to the edge of default.

Moody's and Fitch also said that downgrades were possible if lawmakers fail to enact debt reduction measures and the economy weak.

PTI