Digitisation a game changer for Indian economy, says IMF chief economist

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Applauding India’s digitisation efforts, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said the move was a game changer as it had allowed the Indian government to do things that would have been extremely difficult otherwise.             

“Digitisation is helping along a number of dimensions. One is financial inclusion, obviously because there are a lot of people in countries like India that were unbanked. And having access to digital wallets is a way in which they can enter into transactions that are not just cash transactions, which are very inefficient,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the chief economist of IMF, told in an interview in response to a question about India’s digitisation efforts.             

“I think it (digitization) has allowed the (Indian) government to do things that would have been extremely difficult to do otherwise. Yes (it is a game changer). It is certainly something that is a very welcome development, Gourinchas suggested.   

“So that’s a huge plus in terms of bringing people into a more modern economy. That’s a factor for growth, he said, adding that your market becomes very different if you are plugged into this digital instrument.