'India a bright spot on otherwise dark horizon': IMF on economy

India is headed to lead the G20 countries from the position of "strength" and will leave a mark on the world for years to come during its next year's presidency, Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022. Under its Presidency, India is expected to host over 200 meetings of the G20 across the country. The G20 Leaders' Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on 9 and 10 September 2023 in New Delhi.

Speaking to reporters in Washington on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Georgieva said, "India deserves to be called a bright spot on this otherwise darker horizon because it has been a fast growing economy, even during this difficult times, but most importantly, this growth is underpinned by structural reforms."

Prominent among the structural reforms are the "remarkable success" in digitalisation in India, from digital ID to providing all services and support on the basis of digital access," she said. "This has indeed been a huge factor for India's success," she said.

"And so, the country is now stepping into taking the lead on G20 from that position of strength, which makes me strongly believe that we will see India leaving a mark on the world for years to come during next year's presidency (of G20)," Georgieva said.

"And what could that mark be and in what areas," she asked. "It could be the area of digitalisation, including digital money. We know that we need regulation of crypto, we know that we need to get some more attention to cross border payments. We are proposing public investment in the infrastructure of a cross border payment platform," she said.

"It can be in the area of bringing more fairness in our institutions. Next year we need to complete the 16th quarter review. India has been a very strong voice for the fund to be financially strong and also to be a strong institution on the basis of fair representation of our members," she said.

"It could be in renewable energy. What is not so well known, you know it, that India has really leapfrogged in terms of solar and other forms of renewable energy. So, I very much look forward to next year and I'm sure that it would make the people of India, the whole nearly 1.4 billion of them very proud," said the IMF Managing Director.

On Tuesday, the IMF cut its projection of India's economic growth in 2022 to 6.8 per cent, as it joins other global agencies that have trimmed forecasts. The IMF had in July projected a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.4 per cent for India in the fiscal year that started in April 2022. Even that forecast was lower than 8.2 per cent projected in January this year.

(With PTI inputs)