Is the time right for investors to refocus on the new-found strength of the economy?
Jayna Rana, QuotedData, 14 July 2021
With its young population, rapidly expanding economy and close links to other dominant countries, India is still very much a potential superpower of the world.
However, it has also been somewhat misunderstood in recent years, which has no doubt held back some foreign investors from taking a chance on its markets.
India has undergone significant political and economic reform since incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.
While these policies have helped root out corruption and clean up the financial system, they have regularly been met with backlash and he has also been the subject of criticism for his right-wing politics and Hindu nationalist beliefs.
Add to the mix the country’s most recent Covid-19 wave, which has been described as one of the deadliest across the globe with almost 410,000 deaths and 31 million cases (and these are only reported – experts believe the actual toll is much higher) and the country’s appeal has been tarnished.
Even for the non-investor, there is currently a black mark on the country, for having been the supposed origin of the Delta variant of the virus.
The strain is still incorrectly labelled the ‘Indian variant’ by some while others feel both national and global media have unfairly portrayed the crisis and the Indian Government’s management of it far worse than is true.
Fortunately, the number of new daily cases appears to be falling and the country’s vaccine rollout is ramping up after a temporary slowdown following production constraints.
According to Our World in Data, India has administered more than 370 million jabs so far, with more than 70 million people fully vaccinated, though this still accounts for less than six percent of its 1.4 billion-strong population.
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