I've remarked before: The Indian economy is quite popular these days. In this fragile period of the world, despite being memorialized within that fragile group last year, the Indian economy is standing out with a serious squirm.
Within this context, while Moody's changed the credit appearance of the country to positive two weeks ago, they also foresee an economic acceleration for other related institutions. Recently, IMF's Lagarde identified India as a “shining point” in the fragile world.
As you can see, almost everyone is agreeing that the Indian economy will be blooming and the new “star” will become a rising power. We can state that the essence of this joint expectation is established on two legs.
First of all, the fact that, after 30 years, a party acquired a majority enough to form a government on its own in the 2014 elections… Because Modi's BJP Party created a strong government perception after the victory it won, and thus reinforced the economic consistency expectation both inside and outside.
After all, the fact that the nation had enough with coalitions was an important factor behind Modi's shaking victory. As a matter of fact, after 1984, no party in the parliament came to power by acquiring an absolute majority. This affected the execution negatively, and prevented many reforms, which are needed by the community, from being conducted.
The Indian community understood the importance of reform
Within this context, if you ask many analysts worldwide about the reason behind India's resurrection, you will get the following answer: The trust created by the transition from coalition to consistency, is the first leg of India's wriggle… As for the second leg; the government in question possesses a “reformist” mentality and cares about “implementation”.
While turning a hand to institutional problems that played a role in the slowdown of the Indian economy, Prime Minister Modi is focusing on permanent investments, ranging from infrastructure to education. This wind that came after ten years had increased the excitement of the household, business world, local and foreign investors.
Also, there is a point I have to add, even if I mentioned this before. As you know, the growth data of the country's economy had been revised upside with a method change. While the numbers jumped a couple points in one night, no one, ranging from economy advisors to the president of the Central Bank, managed to grasp the details. Besides, there is a team from IMF going to New Delhi this week to examine the data.
However, what's done is done, and India gained power and an image, not just speed. As a matter of fact, we understand that the confusions related with the administration did not shadow the excitement of the internal and external actors.
The new normal is 9-10%
Within this context, it's expected for the national economy to grow up to 7.5% this year and to overpass China in terms of speed. Maybe it will or maybe it will fail; however the new enthusiasm, new numbers and the expectations this increase had carried India to a couple levels above in the eyes of investors.
Nowadays, Modi is busy with inviting foreign investors to the country with the “Make in India” slogan. While saying, come, feel the change and produce here; he is also not forgetting about the “don't forget to throw your old perceptions to the bin” message.
Actually, all these are showing that India is cleverly managing this process while drawing a table that increases the appetite. It's not an easy feat to perform such a show of strength, despite all the existing weaknesses.
There is also something overt; it's the fact that the décor, necessary to take the stage, had been correctly designed. They want to present a brand new transformation scenario within the context of consistency, trust and reforms; and it's clear that it already attracted lots of attention. According to the government, under the new normal, the growth rate of the economy is 9-10%! We will watch and see.
The moral of the story
Then, while India is shining despite their problems in this doleful global conjuncture, why can't Turkey succeed in this?
Even though the development levels and dynamics are different, as a rising economy, Turkey has a moral to learn from this Indian story. That, in order for a developing country to become a candidate for a leap, it's necessary for those countries to present a trusting and consistent display and focus on “mid and long term” reforms.
Besides, it can't happen without having this excitement felt inside and outside. Because, all the actors, big or small, are looking for a strong story. If India pursued a process that lacked either one of these factors, there wouldn't be a reason to write this article.
This existing process leading to the elections is critical for Turkey in this sense…. Because, we will be deciding if this consistency continues or not. By deciding on whether the presented promises are to save the day or to construct our future, we will become taxpayers.
Thus, we will be choosing the future of the Turkish economy and ours.
This heavy responsibility, whose results will be inherited by generations, is waiting for us, the voters, and then, the ones who will take office.
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