(Bindu Dalmia is the chairperson for the NCFI, NITI Ayog. The column first appeared in the print edition of the Indian Express on January 12, 2022)
- As we begin the new year, to what extent is there an economic feel-good factor? I am inclined to see the glass as half full two years after the economic armageddon of 2020. The economic optimism is fuelled by the “balance of risk being tilted towards the lower side”, despite the Omicron surge denting the fourth-quarter expectations, as also due to a confluence of five tailwind factors that are expected to augment a sustained investment-led recovery: The improved asset quality of banks due to speedier recovery and adequate bank capitalisation; increased profitability due to domestic demand and deleveraging of corporate balance sheets; the government’s sustained focus on reforms and public investments; robust foreign investor interest in India; and the 37 per cent surge in export growth in the third quarter…