Structural reforms need to be fast tracked feels India’s chief economic advisor

Nagpur: Structural reforms need to be fast tracked to achieve the $5 trillion economy according to central government’s chief economic advisor KV Subramanian. Speaking at the SKOCH India Economic Forum in the capital, Subramanian said the economy grew at the slowest pace in last six years.

Subramanian said “We need to press the pedal on structural reforms to reach the goal of $ 5 Trillion economy. We laid down the blueprint of the $ 5 Trillion economy with special emphasis on investment with consumption being the force multiplier. India's economy grew at 5 percent in the first quarter of 2019-20, this is the slowest pace in over six years.”

Even V Anantha Nageswaran, Part-Time Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister said that extraordinary measures need to be taken. “If you look at the general tendency and the marginal tendency the slowdown is primarily the result of the monetary dynamics of the country which is very weak. Some extraordinary measures do need to be taken. We need to create a liquidity window for NBFC, the way RBI has done in the past. The fiscal window needs to be created.”

At the forum, noted economists and economy think-tanks reached a consensus on the GDP growth estimate at 6-6.5 percent for the next fiscal, if a series of structural reforms are implemented. In his presentation on 'Outlook of the Indian Economy' at the India Economic Forum, Sameer Kochhar said “In the current fiscal the number is going to be around 5 percent. But for 2020-21 at least 7 percent of growth is assured. So it's not all gloom and doom. If the structural reform measures are taken, growth will jump in the coming years.”