A top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said the spending of the Indian government on fuel subsidy is mainly benefiting the rich and not the poor.
Laura Papi, Assistant Director, Asia and Pacific Department at the fund said it would take 1/10th of the current expenditure on subsidy to benefit the bottom 40 per cent of the population.
He said this while speaking at a panel discussion on “The State of the Indian Economy: The Budget and Beyond” organised by the Brookings Institute.
Papi said India needs to initiate a series of structural and fiscal reforms to boost up the country’s growth.
Anne Krueger, professor of International Economics, at the School of Advanced International Studies from Johns Hopkins University called for reform in a series of areas.
Noting that reforms in the infrastructure sector – power, roads, transport and ports – is needed, she said more needs to be done and the next set of reforms should focus on key areas like labour market, land reform, tax reforms, and reforms in the legal sector.
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