IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said India will lead the G20 countries from “great power” status and will leave its mark on the world for many years to come during next year’s presidency.
Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in the US, Georgieva said, “India deserves to be called a bright spot on this dark horizon because it is an economy. The economy grew rapidly, even in these difficult times, but most importantly, this growth was underpinned by structural reforms.”
Georgieva’s comments assume make sense as India will assume the G20 presidency for a year from 1 December this year. Under his presidency, India is expected to host more than 200 G20 meetings across the country.
The head of the IMF said that, when India is ready to assume the position of G20 chair from a position of “power”, it will certainly leave its mark on the world.
Under the chair of India, the G20 Leaders Summit at Heads of State/Government level is scheduled to be held on 9 and 10 September 2023 in New Delhi.
The IMF chief is not the only one praising India. The organization’s chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas also hailed India as emerging as a “bright light” at a time when the world is facing the prospect of an impending recession.
In response to a question about India’s ambitious goal of becoming a $10 trillion economy, Gourinchas told PTI he certainly believes this is achievable.
“I mean, we’ve seen some countries grow very fast in the past and actually grow very fast. So I think for sure, it’s not exactly an easy task right now, but I think, yes, there’s definitely a huge potential for an economy like India,” he told PTI in an interview.
To do so, he remarked, India needs to implement some structural reforms.
Growth forecast
In its World Economic Outlook report released two days ago, the IMF forecast a growth rate of 6.8% in 2022 compared to 8.7% in 2021 for India.
The IMF in July forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth in India of 7.4% for the financial year beginning April 2022. That forecast is even lower than that of 8.2%. is expected in January this year.
However, despite the growth forecast cut, India remains the fastest growing among the major economies.
“India is one of the largest economies. So when it really grows at a steady rate like 6.8 or 6.1, it’s really noticeable. In a picture where all other economies, and advanced economies, rarely grow at that rate, but even the other major countries are not doing well in the current or next year. in our forecast. So it’s definitely going to expand,” said Gourinchas.
Last week, the World Bank also cut its growth forecast for India for fiscal year 23 to 6.5% from its previous estimate of 7.5%, due to the impact of the ongoing war in the region. Ukraine, rising global interest rates and high inflation.
IMF chief praises India’s structural reforms
Prominent among the structural reforms is the “remarkable success” in digitization in India, from digital ID to the provision of all services and support on a digital access basis” , IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva said.” This is really a huge factor for India’s success,” she added.
“And so the country is now stepping up to the top of the G20 from that position of strength, which makes me strongly believe that we will see India leave its mark on the world for many years to come during my tenure. president next year (of the G20), ”Georgieva said.
And what could that mark be and in what areas, she asked. “It could be the field of digitalisation, including digital currency. We know we need crypto regulation, we know we need to pay more attention to cross-border payments. We are proposing public investment in the infrastructure of the cross-border payment platform,” she said.
“It could be in the area of bringing more fairness to our institutions. Next year, we need to complete our 16th quarter review. She said, India has been a very strong voice for the fund to be financially strong and also a strong institution on the basis of fair representation of stakeholders. our members.
“It could be renewable energy. You know, what isn’t known to a lot of people is that India has really taken the lead in terms of solar energy and other forms of renewable energy. So I’m very looking forward to next year and I’m sure it will make the people of India, almost 1.4 billion of them, very proud,” said the IMF Managing Director.
(With input from agencies)
