India needs more economic reforms for more foreign investments, growth, says IMF Chief Spokesperson

Gerry Rice said that efforts to strengthen the business climate and to encourage investment in the trade have helped, but India needs further economic reforms to ensure sustainable and more inclusive growth.

India would need to undertake more economic reforms to complement Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s efforts to bring more foreign investments into the country. International Monetary Fund’s Chief Spokesperson Gerry Rice said that efforts to strengthen the business climate and to encourage investment in the trade have helped, but India needs further economic reforms to ensure sustainable and more inclusive growth, PTI reported. Gerry Rice added that further economic reforms, including labour, product mixed land, and others, and additional infrastructure investment are necessary to attract even more investment. However, he mentioned that India’s IBC Code and GST have helped the country to climb up the ladder in the Ease of Doing Business.

Gerry Rice made his statement on the context of recent FDI announcements by firms such as Google and Facebook. The IMF Chief Spokesperson also further said that India has made concerted efforts have been made in recent years to strengthen the business climate and encourage investment in trade which have helped to attract investment and improve the current account financing mix, containing external vulnerabilities.

Even as the world struggles through the coronavirus pandemic and economic outlook of many nations are poor, India has continued to receive foreign investments. The country has received FDI of $40 billion in the financial year so far. However, Gerry Rice underlined that further outbreaks of coronavirus could require additional lockdowns, and concerns about the virus could also dampen consumer confidence and delay the economic recovery. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this week, urged US firms to invest in India, saying that now is the best time to do so. He also pledged to extend full support to the foreign firms, which are willing to set up its operations in India. Listing out opportunities in the fields of energy, infrastructure, defence, agriculture, healthcare, etc, Narendra Modi had said that the bilateral partnership can help the world bounce back after the pandemic.