New York: Jamie Dimon, the CEO of financial services company JPMorgan Chase, heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing an "unbelievable job" in India by pursuing economic reforms and pulling 400 million people out of poverty through inclusive financial programmes. He also lauded PM Modi as "tough" for breaking old bureaucratic systems and saying his approach was needed in the US.
While addressing an event hosted by the Economic Club of New York, Dimon praised the Indian leader for the performance of his government, saying, "Modi has done an unbelievable job in India... He's taken 400 million people out of poverty... They've got an unbelievable education system, unbelievable infrastructure, they're lifting up that whole country, because this one man is just as tough. Nobody. I think you have to be tough to break that down, you know, and he's breaking down some of the bureaucracy."
"They have put in this unbelievable trend that every citizen by hand or eyeball or by finger is recognised. They opened bank accounts for 700 million people. Their transferred payments are going through," added Dimon, 68, while praising India's indirect tax regime that has removed corruption coming from tax systems in different states.
"They all had completely different it's almost like Europe, they're completely different tax systems, which leads to enormous corruption. He's breaking all that stuff down. And so yeah, they're examples of people who have just turned these things around," Dimon, who has run the largest US lender for more than 18 years, said.
PM Modi's economic performance in India
Since coming to power in 2014, India has grown into one of the fastest economies in the world under PM Modi's leadership. India has now climbed several places to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. Several agencies have predicted that India will become the third-largest economy by 2027.
Over the past decade, India's GDP has surged at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7 per cent in USD terms, reaching $3.6 trillion and ascending from the 8th to the 5th largest economy globally. Forecasts suggested India's GDP may breach the $5 trillion mark in the next four years, positioning it ahead of Japan and Germany to secure the third spot by 2027.
India has improved in the quality of infrastructure, which has made investors excited about the country's growth prospects. The latest revision by global stock index compiler MSCI reflects the bullishness towards India. MSCI said this month that it would increase India’s weighting in its emerging markets index to 18.06 per cent from 17.98 per cent, while reducing China’s to 24.77 per cent.
As India heads towards its national elections later this year, market watchers are hopeful that PM Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win a third term to bring greater predictability to economic policies for the next five years. Analysts say that it would be hard to stop the economic juggernaut India has set in motion, irrespective of what happens to China, which is going through an economic slump.
The Indian Prime Minister has been praised by several leaders, including his British counterpart Rishi Sunak, who commended India's prowess at digital initiatives and technology. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also commended PM Modi's leadership for the progress seen in India - particularly his independent foreign policy in consideration of the national interest.
(with inputs from PTI)
