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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Worswick who wrote (6542)	9/23/1998 6:21:00 AM
From: Thomas Haegin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

Repost: IMF TO INDIA: ADOPT STRONGER MACROECONOMIC POLICIES ---------------------- Clark, I'm always on the lookout for S&P reports and ratings, etc. I'll post here what I can find :-) Greetings, Thomas ---------Start------------ UPDATE: IMF TO INDIA: ADOPT STRONGER MACROECONOMIC POLICIES Futures World News - September 22, 1998 16:46 Washington-Sept. 22-FWN--INDIA SHOULD FOLLOW A STRONGER macroeconomic stance, which would restore low inflation and improve market sentiment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today. Following Executive Board consultations with India, the IMF said India should "launch an ambitious and front-loaded medium-term fiscal adjustment program" that involves both the nation's central government and states. Indian monetary policy actions should lower inflation and avoid a "premature easing" of its recently tightened monetary stance, the IMF said. India's economic reforms are "far from complete" and still vulnerable in "the near-term situation" to contagion from current worldwide economic difficulties. The IMF criticized India's current fiscal and monetary policies as being overly oriented toward supporting domestic demand, the IMF said. IMF leaders also said India's current level of public sector debt could seriously damage its long-term economic prospects. India's development over the last three years has been "impressive," but has been recently plagued with declining exports and rising inflation, the IMF said. Some problems in those sectors could be addressed through the removal of measures like India's recently imposed 4% import duty and other "quantitative restrictions" on imports. If India quickly implements the findings of the Narasimham Committee report, which lays out the path for Indian financial sector reform, more private capital could enter the economy and public debt could be reduced, according to the IMF. India's bright spots include a positive gross domestic product (GDP), which has grown at 7.5% between 1994/95 and 1996/97, the IMF said. Exports increased by about 20% in U.S. dollar values and foreign trade almost doubled in relation to GDP. The IMF also praised India's positive balance of payments and "comfortable" foreign exchange reserves. India's new government's economic agenda also includes a strong emphasis on privatization, attraction of foreign investment and infrastructure improvements--something the IMF bodes well for future development. IMF Executive Board officials met with India as part of IMF Article IV consultations and made the results made public as part of the IMF greater efforts at transparency, the organization said. -----End------------