The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has once again patted India on the back. A senior IMF official said that India remains the world's fastest growing economy and the country's economic fundamentals are good. Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the Asia Pacific Department at the IMF, said, India remains the world's fastest growing economy. We forecast growth of seven per cent in FY 2024-25, which will be supported by improvement in rural consumption as crops have been favorable. Inflation is expected to decline to 4.4 per cent in FY 2024-25 despite some volatility due to normalization of food prices. In terms of other fundamentals, he said, fiscal consolidation is on track despite the elections. The reserve position is quite good. Macro fundamentals are generally good for India. 

India will have to focus on job creation 

He suggested that the country's reform priorities after the election should be in three areas. He said, first of all, there are many questions about job creation in India. In this context, I think it is important to implement the labor codes accepted in 2019-20, because they will give an opportunity to strengthen labor markets while providing social security to workers. He said, secondly, if you want to be competitive, you have to remove some trade restrictions, because when you liberalize trade, you allow productive companies to survive. There is more competition and it can create jobs. I think it is important that more trade restrictions are removed. 

focus will have to be on land reforms

Srinivasan said, "And finally I would say continue with reforms. Strengthen the infrastructure, whether it is physical infrastructure or digital infrastructure. This is an important achievement and it will continue with this. However, I would say that going beyond this you have to focus on agriculture and land reforms. You have to think about strengthening education and skills." Emphasizing the need to invest in workforce skills, Srinivasan said, "In an economy that can create a lot of jobs in the service sector, it is important to have the right skills. Therefore, investing in education, making the labor force skilled is very important. "Strengthening the social security system is another reform. Finally, I would say that when you talk to people, you will still find a lot of red tape and so on. 

Unemployment a matter of concern 

Improving the business environment will be an important aspect. These are some of the reforms that I will prioritize.'' He also expressed concern over the low participation of women in the country's labor force and unemployment among the youth. The Director of the Asia Pacific Department said, ''There are many figures in this context, but we will all agree that the participation of women in the labor force is low and unemployment among the youth is very high. Therefore, emphasis should be laid on improving the environment for employment generation.''