Big-bang reforms boost India’s economic confidence: Ipsos

MUMBAI: India’s economic confidence has got a major boost due to recent big-bang economic reforms like the hike in diesel prices and cap on number of subsidized LPG cylinder; FDI in retail, vviation and broadcasting; disinvestment in 4 PSUs; and cut in CRR by RBI, according to a report by global research firm Ipsos.

According to the “Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World” survey, India's economic confidence shot up by 8 points to 68 percent in the month of August compared to the previous month, making it the fourth most economically confident country in the world after Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Germany.

Mick Gordon, CEO of Ipsos in India said, “Union Government of India unleashed a burst of economic policy reforms that included steep rise in heavily subsidized diesel price, limit on cooking gas subsidy for consumers and foreign investments into critical sectors such as aviation and retail, raising the hope that expected fiscal breach will now be lower and investments will pick up. “

“Borrowers could see better days ahead as banks are expected to cut lending rates following the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to unlock Rs. 17,000 crore by slashing cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points. The liquidity infusion would ensure adequate flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy,” added Gordon.

Slightly less than a half of Indian Citizens (48%) believe their local economy which impacts their personal finance is good, a marginal rise of 2 points and an optimistic 53 percent people expect that the economy in their local area will be stronger in next six months.