WSJ.com
U.S. President Barack Obama has become the latest high-profile commentator to note that something has changed in the big India growth story.
Sure, global economic woes are partly to blame and India’s growth rate – while down at 5.3%, its slowest in nine years – remains “impressive,” Mr. Obama said in an interview to the Press Trust of India on Sunday.
But perhaps the time for reforms has come, he added.
“There appears to be a growing consensus in India that the time may be right for another wave of economic reforms to make India more competitive in the global economy,” Mr. Obama said in the interview.
The U.S. President didn’t feel the need to say this in 2010, when he addressed the Indian Parliament. At the time, he praised India’s liberalizing reforms: “Instead of resisting the global economy, you became one of its engines—reforming the licensing raj and unleashing an economic marvel that has lifted tens of millions from poverty and created one of the world’s largest middle classes.” Read more
