Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that the Government is fully seized of the current situation and he is confident that there will be a turnaround in India’s growth prospects in the coming months.

Mr Mukherjee was reacting to the S&P recent report suggesting that India could be the first BRIC country to falter.

The Minister said that this is not based on a fresh rating action. S&P had issued India’s sovereign credit rating on April 25, 2012 reaffirming India’s long-term sovereign credit rating at BBB(-).

It had, however, revised India’s outlook to negative from stable.

Mr. Mukherjee said that between April 2012 and now, there are no significant events to indicate that the economy’s vulnerability to shocks has increased, though growth numbers for the fourth quarter 2011-12 have come below the expectations.

He said that S&P’s recent report suggests that the main factor that would determine India’s investment grade credit rating is the government's reaction to potentially slower growth and greater vulnerability to economic shocks.

Mr Mukherjee asserted that there are several positives for the Indian economy. He said that RBI has reversed the interest rate cycle by announcing a cut of 50 basis points at its last review of monetary policy; mining sector growth has turned around, progress has been made on fuel linkage for coal based power projects; there is a turnaround in the quarterly investment growth rate, which had been negative in the third quarter of 2011-12; a normal south west monsoon has been predicted for 2012-13 and there has been a decline in international oil prices in recent weeks.