IMF Chief Praises india’s Economic Reforms

New Delhi: International Monetary Fund chief kristalina Georgieva praised India‘s ‘bold economic and structural reforms’ – from revised direct and indirect tax laws to the mass rollout of a digital payments ecosystem and the conceptualization and integration of a digital social identity (i.e., the Aadhaar) – on the first day of the global financial body’s semi-annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors.

“I’m very big on India because of the boldness of thier reforms. For example, everyone told India that digital identity on a mass scale could not be done… but India proved them wrong,” she said Monday.

Among the meaningful reforms Georgieva referenced was the recalibration of Goods and Services Tax brackets in September. The government approved sweeping reforms that included dropping the 12 percent and 28 percent slabs and introducing a 40 percent ‘sin tax’.

The change, the government stated, would boost domestic consumption by making a wide range of items, including daily essentials like ghee, milk, paneer, butter, coffee, and roti, more affordable.

The government has also overhauled income tax slabs and rewritten tax laws.

This praise follows more positive comments from last week, when she called the Indian economy a ‘key growth engine’ within the context of a global economy still recovering from the pandemic.

The global growth forecast is roughly three percent over the medium term – down from 3.7 percent pre-pandemic,she said. “…global growth patterns have been changing… with China decelerating steadily while India develops into