Too early to assess US downgrade implication: Wipro

BANGALORE: IT major Wipro today said it was too early to make any assessment on the implication of the S&P downgrade of the United States' credit rating.

The unprecedented downgrade of the US credit rating last Friday has triggered concerns about its fallout on the USD 60 billion Indian IT industry, which garners over 60 per cent of revenues from North America's biggest market.

"We need to see if this downgrade along with the prevailing macroeconomic conditions has any further impact on the real economy, which is primarily driven by consumer and business confidence," Wipro CEO and Executive Director T K Kurien said in a statement here.

In fact, the structural weakness in the economy offers opportunities to IT services companies, he added.

Ratings agency S&P's has downgraded the US credit rating to 'AA' from 'AAA' as it was not convinced with the efforts being made to tackle the country's debt problems. This resulted in a meltdown of Indian and other key bourses.

Software exporter Wipro also remained confident of withstanding another downturn. "We feel that the IT industry is far more prepared for any change in the negative macroeconomic environment now than we were in 2008," Kurien said.