| |
Delhi tariffs still high, says IBRD economist
K R Ravindra
NEW DELHI, Dec 29: Indian incentives for earning and saving foreign exchange will be unequal until the restrictions on consumer goods imports are removed and tariffs lowered significantly, according to World Bank economist Anne O Krueger. India's trade reforms have, to some extent, removed the bias toward import substitution that was inherent in the earlier policies. However, there still remain tariffs which are high by world standards, adds Krueger.Anne Krueger made these remarks while delivering the golden jubilee lecture of the National Council of Applied Economic Research here recently. The National Council of Applied Economic Research has chalked up a lecture series spanning five to six months on international trade and Indian agricultural themes. Krueger delivered the first of the lecture series. Speaking on the theme of ``Regionalism and multilateralism in international trade'', Krueger says the region of the world that could easily be left out, with no mitigating gains to offset the losses from
trade diversion, would be South Asia. India, has the most to gain by continued access to all markets throughout the world particularly because the Indian trade liberalisation is likely to continue, Krueger avers. Official scepticism and the resultant ``lukewarm support'' in India toward open multilateral trading system is a mistake, added Krueger. ``Historically, the official Indian position has been one of skepticism about the desirability of the open multilateral trading system. ``This was probably a mistake, but in fact, trade liberalisation and successful rounds of multilateral trade reduction followed anyway. ``It is now no longer so obvious that the open multilateral trading system can withstand the reluctance of skepticism of countries such as India which have strong stakes in the system'', she adds.
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
|
 |
