The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, praised India’s digitisation efforts, saying the move was a game changer because it allowed the Indian government to do things that would have been extremely difficult otherwise.
“Digitisation is assisting in a variety of ways. One is financial inclusion, which is obvious given a large number of unbanked people in countries such as India. And having access to digital wallets allows them to engage in transactions other than cash transactions, which are inefficient “In response to a question about India’s digitization efforts, Gourinchas stated in an interview.
“I believe digitisation has enabled the Indian government to do things that would have been extremely difficult otherwise.” Yes it is a game changer. “It is unquestionably a very welcome development,” Gourinchas suggested.
“So that’s a significant benefit in terms of bringing people into a more modern economy.” That’s a factor for growth,” he said, adding that if you’re connected to this digital instrument, your market will look very different.
“The second one, which I believe is also important in the case of India, is that these digital instruments allow governments to reach and disburse systems in ways that are much more difficult to do sometimes with some of the regular pipes of the safety net,” he said.
“One of the lessons we’ve learned from both the pandemic and the energy crisis is how to provide assistance where it’s most needed.” Because it’s prohibitively expensive to have a blanket policy that covers everyone,” he explained.
Most people do not require this, and most businesses may not require it as well. But, he adds, sometimes it has to be done that way because it’s the only way.
“Digitization holds the promise of providing more targeted assistance when it is required.” This has the potential to be a game changer because it means that policy can now be more agile. It may have less of an impact on the overall fiscal situation. “As a result, more protection and insurance can be provided,” Gourinchas explained.
“That’s also a critical factor in supporting the economy and assisting it to recover when it’s finished.” There will be shocks of all kinds of things happening, and it opens up the possibility of something much more agile and targeted,” he responded to a question.
