India’s drive for economic reform weakens

India's government is neglecting economic reform in favour of pushing nationalist policies

Investors feel that Prime Minister Modi’s government is neglecting economic reforms
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What has gone wrong in India? Not long ago it was the world’s fastest-growing major economy. But annual growth fell back to just 4.5% in the third quarter of last year, writes Sangeeta Khorana for Quartz. Official estimates predict the lowest growth for 11 years in the year to April 2020.

Stocks have yet to feel the gloom. India’s Nifty 50 index returned 12% in 2019, a year marked by optimism that the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would bring more economic reform. Down by 3.8% so far this year, the index has still outperformed other emerging markets laid low by the coronavirus.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.