India's inclusion in JPMorgan Bond Index may spur inflows of $23b: FM Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said JPMorgan's decision to include Indian government bonds in its widely tracked emerging market debt index could potentially lead to annual inflows of about $23 billion into the country.

JPMorgan will start adding the securities from June 28, 2024 and India will have a maximum weight of 10% on the index.

The minister said political stability, policy consistency and decisive reforms brought about by the NDA government have kept the economy in good stead and will help the country emerge as the world's third-largest economy in a few years.

Delivering a speech at Delhi's Shri Ram College of Commerce, the minister said India has already become the world's fifth-largest economy from the 10th largest in 2013-14. But this upward movement wasn't a given thing nor is the future expansion an irrefutable proposition, she said, suggesting that economic growth is earned with hard work and not received on a platter.

The global macro-economic situation remains volatile, with food, fuel and fertiliser remaining in short supply in many countries in the wake of the Ukraine war, she said, highlighting the challenges for policy-makers not just in India but around the world.

The minister said political instability and the compulsions of coalition politics can result in flip-flops in policy-making and potentially impact the economy. Industry always seeks policy consistency, and only a decisive and stable political leadership like the current one can provide that, she said.

The policy-makers need to be futuristic and ready for reforms, she said. They must provide consistency for businesses to grow. And that's exactly the difference between the decision-making of the NDA government and that of the earlier regime, she said.

India will remain the world's fastest-growing economy in 2023-24, with a growth rate of 6.1%, the International Monetary Fund has said.

The finance minister's statement comes after senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recently said India's emergence as the world's third-largest economy is "guaranteed" regardless of who forms the government after the 2024 elections. Ramesh was responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledge to make India the third-largest economy during his third term (2024-29).