Moody's forecast cause of concern: Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the downgrade of India's growth forecast by Moody's was a cause of concern but expressed hoped that India would better last year's 6.5 per cent economic growth.

"It is a cause of concern but one should not draw unwarranted conclusions," Dr. Singh told reporters on the sidelines of Vice-President's swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

He further said that the fundamentals of Indian economy are strong.

"The fundamentals of Indian economy are strong. Investments and savings are among the highest in the world. I am hopeful, we will do still better than 6.5 per cent growth performance of last year," Dr. Singh said.

The research unit of ratings agency Moody's Investors Service becomes the latest to cut India's growth forecasts this week.

Moody's said the slowdown in India's economy "has been sharper and more broad-based than anticipated and is now deeply entrenched across all sectors of the economy," in a note dated August 8.

Despite the slowing growth, Moody's said both the government and the Reserve Bank of India had provided "little policy response."

Moody's added weaker-than-average rainfalls during the monsoon period would also weigh on India's growth. The research unit also cut its 2013 growth forecast to 6 percent from 6.2 percent. (ANI)