MUMBAI, July 6: Ignoring suggestions from non-resident Indian economists helped Indian economy to recover after the Covid pandemic, Bibek Debroy, chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) said on Thursday.
Delivering the D R Gadgil Memorial Lecture here, Debroy said India did not open up the “fiscal tap” in response to the crisis and is relatively better than some of the developed economies which indulged in “fiscal profligacy”.
“Evidence also shows that there were a lot of people from the West, including non resident Indian economists who lectured us on the economic policies that India should follow. The Government of India did not pay any attention,” he said.
“And it is no exaggeration to say that we are in this comfortable position today relative to what is happening in the rest of the world because the fiscal tap was not thrown open. It is no exaggeration to say that many of the developed countries are in trouble because of the fiscal profligacy,” he added.
Debroy did not name any of the non-resident economists.
The Indian economy will grow at 6.5 per cent over the next fiscal years, he said, adding that India will be the third largest economy in the world by 2047 with a USD 20 trillion GDP and a per capita income of over USD 10,000 per year.
Rate of population growth is slowing down in India, Debroy said, adding that the number of people under 15 years of age has witnessed a decline.
India has ceased to be a country of shortages, he said, adding that it is not the future which is bright but the present that is also bright in India.
The economist said the recognition of India has changed in the last nine years and has witnessed a vibrancy, courtesy the strong entrepreneurial culture in the country. (PTI)