India's public finances remain a weakness for credit profile: Fitch

'Lowering of the deficit target to 4.9% from 5.1% of GDP is a clear signal of the government's commitment to deficit reduction,' Jeremy Zook, Director - Asia sovereign ratings at Fitch said.

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Mumbai: India's fiscal deficit targets are achievable but the government's financial metrics still remain a weakness for the South Asian nation's credit profile compared to peers, an analyst at Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday.

"Lowering of the deficit target to 4.9 per cent from 5.1 per cent of GDP is a clear signal of the government's commitment to deficit reduction," Jeremy Zook, director - Asia sovereign ratings, told Reuters. "In our view, this seems relatively achievable."

During Tuesday's annual budget, India's government announced plans to spend $24 billion (Rs 2,00,879.28 crore) to create jobs over the next five years and $32 billion (Rs 2,67,836 crore) on rural development this year alone.