This Article is From Apr 21, 2012

Major economic reforms unlikely before 2014 polls in India: Chief Economic Advisor

Major economic reforms unlikely before 2014 polls in India: Chief Economic Advisor
Washington: Major economic reforms in India would hit the roadblock and are unlikely to happen before the next Parliamentary elections in 2014, Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu has said.

Addressing a meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an eminent Washington-based think tank, Mr Basu said that relatively less important bills might go through Parliament.

Post-2014, he said, "you would see a rush of important reforms" and after 2015 India would be one of the "fastest growing" economies of the world.

The new government, if in majority, would start with the reforms in a big way because there is a sense that it needs to pick up, Mr Basu added.

At the same time, he said there are some reforms that need to go into fast gear and identified the opening up of the retail sector as one key reforms in waiting.

India, he said, also needs to address the issue of massive subsidy leakage and that of poor infrastructure.

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