Washington: The World Bank and IMF termed India’s economic growth as "impressive", but also said the country faces a challenge in the infrastructure sector which it needs to improve upon in order to attract more foreign investment.
"Overall, India is doing impressively well. How a very large country with an extraordinarily diverse population can make real inroads in poverty reduction and in development with a democratic system, I think that's encouraging," World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said on Sunday.
"I think Indian officials that I spoke to aren't satisfied with the 7 per cent or so that they're doing, but I must say that is impressive already, and I think they are making every effort to do more," Wolfowitz said after the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank concluded.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Rodrigo de Rato observed that India was attaining its growth rate with very low inflation and said it "shows the Indian economy is becoming much more efficient. We believe that maintaining macroeconomic stability and deepening reforms is the key for the future."
"We have seen some very encouraging announcements by the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) regarding further liberalization of financial reforms, and certainly, infrastructure is a challenge for India and improving the business climate as to attract more foreign and domestic investment," he said.
The head of World Bank also had a few words to say about corruption. "As I said in my opening comments, the problem with corruption, which is a problem that affects even the richest countries in the world, is one that can't be eliminated overnight. You have to tackle it progressively."
"I think many of the countries we're dealing with are doing that. I just came back from Indonesia, and the fight against corruption is almost a national preoccupation. And from the President down to ordinary people in the street, it's something that Indonesians believe needs to be tackled in order to tackle the problem of poverty in their country."
"I have seen that in many other countries in the world, including India," Wolfowitz remarked.
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