Washington– International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has praised India for undertaking “very significant reforms,” saying the country now plays a “substantial” role in fueling global economic growth.
Speaking at a press conference during the annual IMF–World Bank meetings in Washington, Georgieva highlighted India’s sweeping policy changes across multiple sectors.
“India is one of the fastest-growing economies, and given its size, it contributes to global growth substantially. India is where it is because it has pursued very significant reforms—tax reform, investing in infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and road connectivity—and that has injected this growth potential,” she said.
Earlier this week, the IMF raised India’s growth forecast for 2025 to 6.6 percent, a 0.2 percentage point upward revision in its latest Global Economic Outlook report. The Fund noted that India’s strong first-quarter performance helped offset the impact of higher U.S. tariffs on imports from the country.
“In India, growth is projected to be 6.6 per cent in 2025… Compared with the July WEO update, this is an upward revision for 2025, with carryover from a strong first quarter more than offsetting the increase in the U.S. effective tariff rate on imports from India since July,” the report stated.
India’s economy expanded at a brisk 7.8 percent during the April–July quarter, surpassing expectations and reaffirming its position as the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Earlier this week, Georgieva described India’s economic progress as “impressive,” lauding the government’s commitment to reforms and innovation. “I’m very big on India because of the boldness with which they do things that others are telling them… not possible. For example, digital identity. Everybody was saying you cannot have everybody with a digital ID… they have proven them wrong,” she said.
At Thursday’s briefing, Georgieva also encouraged India to further open its economy to trade. “India has still maintained some barriers to trade. There are tariffs that India imposes, there are some restrictions, and it is good to think about—where do you want to go? Do we want to go in a direction of maintaining and increasing these restrictions, or we want to go the other way, integrate?” she asked, noting that India’s talks with the European Union signal a willingness to deepen trade relations.
She concluded by urging New Delhi to “keep doing what has worked—pursue reforms.” (Source: IANS)
