Christine Lagarde speaks to NDTV on the state of Indian economy in an exclusive interview.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde, who on Tuesday said that raising women's participation in the workforce to the level of men can boost Indian economy by 27 per cent, shared her views on the country's economy with NDTV. The IMF chief had earlier said India must continue with reforms, especially in the financial services sector and should urgently focus on broad- based and true inclusion of women in its economy, while expressing her concerns over the high level of discrimination faced by women in rural India.
Here are the highlights of Christine Lagarde's interview with NDTV:
- Prime Minister Modi had a lot of messages to convey (at the World Economic Forum) and that's a big job in 40 minutes, but I was hoping he would have said a bit more. Wish he had talked a bit about girls and Indian women.
- Ms Lagarde also said that the Indian economy is doing exceptionally well adding that it is the fastest growing among large, emerging economies.
- The IMF Chief further tagged GST as a great reform but said "there are implementation glitches here and there, that's what I am told."
- “We are in an economic sweet spot at the moment, there is growth at many corners, but risk would be complacency. But we have to fix the roof when the sun is shining,” Ms Lagarde said.
- Stressing on the importance of inclusion, the IMF Chief said the focus should be on women. "Indian economy could be 27% bigger if women participated at the same rate in the labour market as men," she said, repeating her earlier claim.
- On concerns of protectionism, Ms Lagarde said that if there were anti-international trade forces, it would be an issue adding that trade is fuelling growth and would benefit all.