India on cusp of revolution with GST, inflation framework: French economist Guy Sorman

NEW DELHI: Hailing India's tax reforms and inflation-targeting, eminent French economist Guy Sorman today said India will enter a "revolutionary stage" of development with execution of such measures.

"If tax reforms and inflation-targeting are implemented, India is entering a revolutionary stage of development," Sorman told PTI.

"This is a breakthrough even more impressive than the Chinese reforms in 1979," added Sorman, who has authored many books, including 'Economics doesn't lie, A Defence of the Free Market in a time of Crisis'.

The GST Constitutional Amendment Bill was approved by the Rajya Sabha recently and the government is working hard to meet the April 1, 2017 deadline for rolling out the new indirect tax regime.

The GST will subsume excise, service tax and other local levies and ensure one common market for seamless transfer of goods and services.

The Reserve Bank of India has recently implemented an inflation-targeting framework that requires it to maintain publicly-announced targets for retail inflation based on the consumer price index ( CPI).

Under the new dispensation, RBI will be required to meet retail inflation target of 4 per cent, plus or minus 2 per cent, over the next 5 years.

The benchmark interest rate from next policy onwards, due on October 4, is expected to be decided by a 6-member monetary policy committee (MPC) instead of the Governor alone.