US Lawmakers Call for More Economic Reforms in India (Economic Times)
Senior Fellow Arvind Subramanian testifies at a Congressional hearing on "US-India Trade Relations" by the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee.
WASHINGTON: Describing the current economic atmosphere in India as "deeply troubling", top American lawmakers and experts today said the country needs to take urgent steps towards the next phase of reforms to boost economic growth.
At a Congressional hearing on "US-India Trade Relations" by the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee chaired by Congressman Devin Nunes, lawmakers described the current economic atmosphere in India as "deeply troubling" with the country following a "protectionist" regime and restrictive trade policies and also accused New Delhi of violating intellectual property.
In his testimony, Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Center for Global Development, said that one of the major impediments to boosting India's economic prospects and opportunities for domestic and foreign investors is its regulatory regime, including weak governance, corruption, uncertain tax and investment climate.
"Improving this regime is a first-order priority for India from a purely domestic perspective but it would also benefit foreign business," he said.
But there is little prospect that India will at any time in the near future establish a regime-for example, on nuclear liability, on land acquisition, on power pricing, on taxation of MNCs and so on--that in terms of rule of law and legal certainty will match the standards found in most advanced countries, he said.
Nor will it be able to provide the investment-friendly climate that is associated with effective top-down systems such as China, he added.
