India dealt with COVID-19, its economic consequences decisively: IMF chief
New York, Jan 15: IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has praised India for taking "very decisive" steps to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences and asked the country to do more this year to support an accelerated transformation of the economy.
Georgieva, during a global media roundtable, stating, "The country actually has taken very decisive action, very decisive steps to deal with the pandemic and to deal with the economic consequences of it." She added, "We are almost where we were before COVID-19 in India, meaning that economic activities have been revitalised quite significantly."
When I called on everybody to stay tuned for January 26, that applies very much to India. You would see a picture in our update that is less bad. Why? Because the country actually has taken very decisive action, very decisive steps to deal with the pandemic and to deal with the economic consequences of it, Georgieva said.
Talking about India, she said it was a very dramatic lockdown for a country of this size of the population with people clustered so closely together.
"Then
India
moved
to
more
targeted
restrictions
and
lockdowns.
What
we
see
is
that
that
transition,
combined
with
policy
support,
seems
to
have
worked
well.
Why?
Because
if
you
look
at
mobility
indicators,
we
are
almost
where
we
were
before
COVID
in
India,
meaning
that
economic
activities
have
been
revitalised
quite
significantly,
she
said.
Georgieva
said
that
she
is
impressed
by
the
appetite
for
structural
reforms
that
India
is
retaining.
We welcome that. No question those reforms, and actually that applies very much to South Africa... will determine competitiveness in the future. We need higher productivity. We need more vibrant and inclusive economies. And they are not going to fall from the sky. There have to be reforms that support them, she said.
Welcoming
the
fact
that
India
does
not
give
up
on
structural
reforms,
she
said:
And
I'm
saying,
yes,
do
it!
Because
the
world
change
is
accelerating
and
economies
have
to
be
agile
and
adaptable
to
change...
We
have
to
be
constantly
leaning
forward.
At
the
same
time,
she
said
that
one
of
the
aspects
of
India's
reforms
that
are
still
lagging
is
on
gender
equality.
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I want to just stress it is scary to see how we are losing ground on gender equality over these months so fast. Women are front line workers...They are often in the informal economy, help cannot easily reach them, so they are hit, she said. ....once people start losing jobs, who is to lose jobs first? [Again] women are on the front line. Labour market participation in India for women has been low. It is shrinking...I know the government is paying attention, it is moving in that [direction], but there is so much space to tap into the productive potential of women and the entrepreneurial potential of women, Georgieva said.
India is likely to bounce back with an impressive 8.8 per cent growth rate in 2021, IMF predicted.