Swiss investor and editor of the 'Gloom Boom & Doom' report Marc Faber says the policies adopted by the Indian government to tackle the current economic crisis have taken a toll on both equity and bond markets. Faber, who is the managing director at Marc Faber Limited, says the economic polices of the government have been a "disaster" by and large."Over the long term, I am negative about the rupee. The rupee is weak because India has higher inflation than other countries, and the problem is that a weak rupee can lead to even higher inflation and India's ratings downgrade is quite likely,'' he said in an interview to ET in an exclusive interview. Edited excerpts:Over the past few years, investors have built exaggerated, unrealistic expectations about returns from the Indian markets. If you look at India's macro economy, it has not done well compared to China. But on the corporate level, many Indian companies have done well and have rewarded shareholders. If you ask me, India as an investment destination, there are still opportunities. I have maintained my outlook that in 2013 the markets will not perform well because they had a strong rebound from the 2008 lows to hit the 2011 peak. After that, economic conditions began to disappoint investors, but it has not disappointed me because I expected it to worsen.I am not very optimistic about India on the macroeconomic front, and it has to do with the government policies. The economic policies of the government are by and large a disaster; the government could have done more. The government in India, through its incredible bureaucracy, has retarded economic growth in the last 20-30 years by at least 3% per annum in real terms. It's a miracle that the Indian economy has performed well, considering the quality of its government.The Indian government has created a huge problem, as it has under-reported the rate of increase in the cost-of-living or inflation. And by not measuring inflation properly, the government has kept interest rates negative in real terms. What the government can do or should do is, though it can be painful, it should increase rates substantially, stabilise the rupee. To increase rates would imply lot of pain in the economy temporarily, but in the long term, it would be desirable.The falling currency is not the problem; it is the symptom of the problem. It is like fever, which is just a symptom of a disease and not the disease itself. The currency depreciation is the symptom of poor balance budget and excessive consumption, which is reflected in the trade and current account deficit. If there is an increase in the short-term interest rates, where there is real return of rupee deposits, then the rupee will bottom out in the near term. However, over the long term, I am negative about the rupee.It is quite likely. Indian companies have fair amount of dollar liabilities and the weakness of the rupee only increases the interest payments. Yes, it's quite likely that the ratings downgrade will happen. But the markets have discounting mechanism and they have discounted it.I have very substantial positioning in India. There are some very good companies in India, though the macro economic conditions are not very favourable. A very desirable and attractive sector is the consumption sector. The largest weight of India Capital Fund is in banks and financials, as they are very cheap and inexpensive; however, they are likely to remain inexpensive for quite some time.The rupee is down nearly 50% in the last three years. Stock markets are down only 12% to 15% from their peak in rupee terms. Thus, in dollar terms, India is in a bear market as it has fallen nearly 60%. But I don't think the Indian stock markets will fall to that extent in rupee terms.I think capital flows have moved out of emerging economies because the US equity markets have started performing well over the last one year. Investors must realise that the yield on US 10-year treasury notes bottomed in July 2012 at 1.43%, and after that it moved to 2.88%. In my view, the asset purchase programme of the Fed has been a complete disaster.The US economy is still weak, otherwise McDonalds and Walmart would have reported much favourable results. Given the weakness in the economy and employment, and given the frame of mind of Fed members, most of them are extremely dovish. I think there will be no tapering of bond-buying programme. And I won't be surprised if in a year's time the Fed increases asset purchases.