India quickens reforms
India’s long-stalled reforms to its financial sector yesterday gained momentum after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would push through legislative changes, including reforms in the insurance sector which foreign players are eyeing.
Investors have been keenly awaiting signs of a pick-up in the pace of economic reforms in India after disappointment that the re-elected Congress party did not speed up the process after May’s elections.
“We are also better placed than at any time in the recent past to push the reform process forward,” he told the World Economic Forum in Delhi.
Singh also said his government would take steps to wind down economic stimulus measures for Asia’s third largest economy. He said India needed to develop long-term debt markets, deepen corporate bond markets, strengthen the insurance and pensions sectors, improve futures markets for better price discovery and regulation.
“All these issues will be addressed through gradual but steady progress in financial sector reforms to make the sector more competitive while ensuring an efficient regulatory and oversight system,” Singh said.