Japan Credit Rating Agency Upgrades India to 'A-', Outlook Stable

India's sovereign credit rating has been raised by the Japan Credit Rating Agency, known as JCR. The announcement was welcomed by the Government of India on 2 September 2026. Both the long-term foreign currency issuer rating and the long-term local currency issuer rating move up by one notch, from BBB+ to A-. The outlook stays at stable.

The country ceiling also moves

JCR lifted India's country ceiling by one notch as well, to A. A country ceiling caps the rating that borrowers inside a country can normally be given. Raising it makes it cheaper and simpler for Indian firms, public and private alike, to borrow in international markets.

What the agency looked at

Four strengths were named. The first is growth. The agency said India has kept a high growth rate on the back of private consumption and public investment. Real GDP grew 7.8 per cent in FY26, and the first quarter of FY27 held the same pace despite a difficult global setting.

The second is the quality of government spending. The Centre's fiscal deficit fell from 4.7 per cent in FY25 to 4.4 per cent in FY26, while capital spending stayed high, infrastructure most of all.

The third is the financial system. Bank asset quality has improved, helped by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, by capital the government put in and by tighter supervision from the Reserve Bank. Capital adequacy and profitability in banking remain sound, and the non-banking financial companies have improved on both counts too.

The fourth is the external account. The current account deficit is contained, held in check by a surplus on services. Foreign exchange reserves are far larger than short-term external debt, which is what cushions the country against a shock from outside.

The fourth upgrade in about a year

JCR also credited policies that lift productivity, naming digital public infrastructure and the Goods and Services Tax. This is not the first such decision recently. Morningstar DBRS upgraded India in May 2025. S&P Global Ratings followed in August 2025, and Rating and Investment Information, Inc. of Japan in September 2025.