India and other emerging markets such as China have done well to post high growth rates and yet closely manage inflationary pressures in their economies, according to Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Speaking to a small group of journalists on the margins of the annual World Bank-International Monetary Fund meeting here, Mr. Gurria said there was no doubt that India and China were engines of growth for the world economy.
“Locomotive role”
These two economies continued to play a “locomotive role” and they were “the ones who make the averages a little better,” he said, adding that when economic growth rates dropped from double digits to somewhere between 7 and 9 per cent “that still does not feel like a recession.”
He noted that on the contrary, Europe was growing at less than two per cent and the United States' growth was “very flat.”
His remarks came in the wake of a week of market turmoil in the U.S., following the U.S. Federal Reserve signalling a lack of confidence in the recovery.
Inflationary pressures
Mr. Gurria also praised India's management of inflationary pressures. In response to a question from The Hindu he said, “India, which is being careful with its price stability, has been tightening [its monetary policy].”
Arguing that it was important for India and China to grow in a way that was sustainable and they ought to avoid false starts, Mr. Gurria said “if you have a lot of poor people in your country you have to be careful about the price situation.”
