Will give 4.5 out of 5 for government, says BoB’s Madan Sabnavis

The NDA performance on the economy over the last 10 years has been excellent. The government has been proactive in not just introducing new policies but also implementing all policies to accelerate growth and development. We have all the results in front of us. There is nothing lagging from the point of view of what it promised and what it has delivered.

It has managed to balance the strategy of both being a welfare state as well as an agent of change for economic growth by providing the right environment for private enterprise. All this has been done ensuring that fiscal discipline has been maintained and that there is total harmony between monetary and fiscal policy. Therefore the performance can be put at 4.5 out of 5.

The major game changers have been GST, creation of MPC, opening up of all sectors to foreign investment, giving thrust to capex when private investment has been lagging, reinvigorating the PSBs by having the NPA issue resolved. Reforms in capital market have been gradual but effective which can be seen by SEBI action today and needs to be commended as reforms in financial sector cannot be like an avalanche but gradual so that they can be digested by players. Further, the push to digitisation has been a big boost for efficiency in the economy making operations and processes seamless. Ideas like asset monetisation have been progressive and will hopefully see more traction going forward. But a start has been made.

The unfinished agenda is mainly on the agricultural front when it comes to implementing farm laws, taking a considered view on pricing and trade policy. These are deep rooted issues and driven by forces of political economy and not easy to resolve. This can be the main task in the next term.