Setting the Strategic Direction for Faster Growth: a Challenge for Both India and Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Modi’s elections were hailed as a resounding victory for his pro-growth/pro-business agenda. There was an expectation among pro-market economists and business that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s maiden effort would lay out a vision for five years; introduce major structural reforms; and administer some necessary but bitter medicine in pursuit of fiscal consolidation. Instead, critics claimed that the budget seemed to have been prepared by incumbent bureaucrats and represented unimaginative continuity rather than a bold new vision.