PremiumKaushik Basu, before becoming the Chief Economist of the World Bank, served as the Chief Economic Adviser to Manmohan Singh between 2009 and 2012.
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If anyone gets credit for India overtaking UK’s GDP, it’s Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, said Kaushik Basu, who served as the Chief Economic Adviser to Manmohan Singh between 2009 and 2012. From 2012 to 2016, he served as the Chief Economist of the World Bank.
“If anyone gets credit for India overtaking UK’s GDP, it’s Narasimha Rao & Manmohan Singh’s govts. India’s growth spurt from 1994 & even faster growth from 2005 made this inevitable, despite the sharp slowdown since 2016. It’s like a relay race won inspite of the last runner (sic)," said former CEA Kaushik Basu.
Basu also goes on to say that, 10 years ago, it was projected that India would overtake the UK in terms of GDP by 2020, thanks to India’s faster growth of population and per capita income. However, it got delayed by a couple of 2years because of the sharp slowdown in India’s per capita income growth since 2016.
“But I’m glad it’s happened now," he wrote.
In another tweet, Basu noted that India’s unemployment rate in August shot up to 8.3%, the highest in 12 months, according to CMIE data.
“This is causing extra hardship because it is happening amidst high inflation. This is where we need to focus all policy attention," he added.
Earlier, he also said, “India’s high growth over April-June is good news. But the sharp growth decline for 5 years from 2016 has done big damage. India now has one of the world’s highest youth unemployment & highest inequality & life expectancy is 3 years below Bangladesh. Hope we are turning around."
Several businessmen, business tycoons, and bankers celebrated India's extraordinary rise to the fifth-largest economy in the world after Britain. Ace banker Uday Kotak, meanwhile, gave a ‘reality check’ for the uninitiated.
The managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “But a reality check of population denominator: India: 1.4 billion vs UK.068 billion. Hence, per capita GDP we at $2,500 vs $47,000. We have miles to go…Let’s be at it! (sic)".
