INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Non-bank finance is a risk that has become more evident in last few years, said Maurice Obstfeld.Washington: India's growth has been "very
solid" over the past four years, IMF's Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld said, praising the fundamental economic reforms like GST and the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code carried out by the government
Obstfeld, 66, -- who is set to retire this month-end -- will be succeeded by Gita Gopinath, the second Indian to be appointed to the
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had served as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund
"India under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried out some really fundamental reforms
These include the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy CodeA lot of what they have done on financial inclusion has
been really important," Obstfeld told a group of journalists here.Summing up his impression of India's economy in the last four-and-a-half
so it is important for the reform momentum to be maintained even as an election comes up and for the path of fiscal adjustment to be
maintained," Obstfeld added.He said one risk that has become much more evident in the last few years has been non-bank finance, usually
associated with bad infrastructure projects in India, Obstfeld said it has been very concentrated in banking system
"But as the government is trying to better oversee the banking system, these loans have migrated to shadow banking and that is an area where
election in the country, there is a reluctance to do anything that would slow the economy, Obstfeld said, observing, "But the lesson of
experiences is that financial vulnerabilities can go south very quickly".Obstfeld, who has served in the post of Chief Economist for more
than three years, will return to the Department of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.(Except for the headline, this story
has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)For the latest News Live Updates on Election
Results from each assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, like us on Facebook or follow us on
