To become a $5 trillion economy India needs investments. But where will they come from? – By Jayati Ghosh
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on July 5 clearly recognised one key problem facing the Indian economy right now: inadequate investment.
The word investment was mentioned at least 30 times in the first hour of the rather lengthy speech, reflecting its importance. In addition, the Narendra Modi government set a new goal to take the Indian economy to $5 trillion or Rs 343 lakh crore in five years, which makes investment an even more urgent priority.
However, what the government plans to do to boost investments remains vague. Most of the proposals in the budget speech relate to regulatory changes, such as further opening up of the financial sector to deepen capital markets in the – false – expectation that this will somehow kickstart private investment on its own. It is hard to see how liberalisation of foreign capital inflows into insurance would generate more real domestic investment…
SEE ALSO:
- Budget 2019: Govt’s extra-budgetary spending to decline by 12% this year – By Krishnanand Tripathi (Jul 9, 2019, Financial Express)
https://www.financialexpress.com/budget/budget-2019-govts-extra-budgetary-spending-to-decline-by-12-this-year/1638436/ - Budget 2019: A budget for the masses – By Renu Sud Karnad (Jul 7, 2019, The Hindu)
https://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/budget-2019-a-budget-for-the-masses/article28307174.ece
