Manmohan Singh's 'three steps' to stem India's economic crisis

Soutik Biswas

India correspondent?of BBC NEWS

10 August 2020

India must take three steps "immediately" to stem?the damage of the coronavirus pandemic, according to its former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

"Higher borrowing is inevitable," he said. "Even if we have to spend an additional 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to?cater to?the military, health and economic challenges, it must be done.

cater to?迎合；為…服務(wù)

He acknowledged that it would increase India's debt to GDP ratio, but if borrowing "can save lives, borders, restore livelihoods and boost economic growth, then its worth it", he said.

"We must not be shy of borrowing but we must be prudent on how we use that borrowing," he said.

In the past, taking loans from?multilateral?institutions like the IMF and World Bank have been taken as signs of India's economic weaknesses. But now India could "borrow from a position of strength, compared to other developing nations," Dr Singh said.

multilateral adj. /?m?lti?l?t?r?l/ ?1.in which three or more groups, nations, etc. take part 多邊的；多國的??multilateral negotiations 多邊談判?2.having many sides or parts 有多條邊的；有多個部分的

"India's track record as a borrower from multilateral institutions is?impeccable, It is not a sign of weakness to borrow from these institutions."

impeccable adj. /?m?pek?bl/ ?without mistakes or faults 無錯誤的；無瑕疵的；完美?

? impeccable manners/taste 無可挑剔的舉止╱品味

Many countries have decided to print money to fund government spending to tide over the ongoing economic crises, and?some?prominent?economists have suggested the same?for India. Others have raised fears about excess supply of money leading to inflation.

prominent adj. /?pr?m?n?nt/ ?

1.important or well known 重要的；著名的；杰出的??a prominent politician 杰出的政治家??She was prominent in the fashion industry. 她曾在時裝界名噪一時。

2.easily seen 顯眼的；顯著的；突出的

3.sticking out from sth 突出的；凸現(xiàn)的??a prominent nose 高鼻子

Monetisation?of the?fiscal deficit?directly by India's central bank used to be norm until the mid 1990s. India, Dr Singh said, had moved away from the practice to bring about "fiscal discipline, institutional separation from the Reserve Bank of India [central bank] and the government and to curb unhealthy impulses of seemingly free money".

Monetisation：貨幣化???fiscal deficit：財政赤字

"I am aware that the traditional fear of high inflation due to excess money supply is perhaps no longer valid in developed nations," he said. "But for countries such as India, other than costs of institutional autonomy of the central bank, unbridled printing of money can have attendant impacts on currency, trade and imported inflation."

Dr Singh said he was not ruling out printing money to finance the deficit, but "merely suggesting that let the barrier for that to be very high and use it as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted".

He warned against India following some other nations in becoming more protectionist - imposing high trade barriers duties on imports. India's trade policy over the last three decades had brought "enormous economic gains to not just the top but across all sections of our population", he said.

As Asia's third largest economy, India today is in a far stronger position today than in the early 1990s. I asked Dr Singh whether these strengths would help India stage a robust recovery after the pandemic ends.

"India's real GDP is 10 times stronger than what it was in 1990, and India had lifted more than 300 million people from poverty since then," he said. "So yes, the Indian economy is intrinsically?much stronger now."

intrinsically?/?n?tr?nz?kli; ?n?tr?ns?kli/?adv. 本質(zhì)地；內(nèi)在地；固有地

But a significant driver of that growth was India's trade with the rest of the world. The share of global trade in India's GDP increased nearly fivefold in this period.

"India is much more integrated with the rest of the world now," Dr Singh said. "Hence, what happens in the global economy will have a significant impact on India's economy. In this pandemic, the global economy is severely dented?and that will be a big cause of concern for India."

dent ???/dent/ ?

1.to make a hollow place in a hard surface, usually by hitting it 使凹陷；使產(chǎn)生凹痕?The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽車尾部被撞后嚴(yán)重凹陷。

2.to damage sb's confidence, reputation, etc. 損害，傷害，挫傷（信心、名譽(yù)等）??It seemed that nothing could dent his confidence. 似乎任何事情都不會使他的信心受挫

3.a hollow place in a hard surface, usually caused by sth hitting it 凹痕；凹坑；凹部?a large dent in the car door 車門上一大塊凹陷

IDIOMS 習(xí)語

make, etc. a ?dent in sth

to reduce the amount of sth, especially money 減少，削減（尤指資金）

Ultimately, no one yet knows the full economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, nor how long nations will take to recover from it. But one thing is clear, it has defied the experience of even seasoned economists like Dr Singh.

defy v. ??/d??fa?/ ?

1.to refuse to obey or show respect for sb in authority, a law, a rule, etc. 違抗；反抗；蔑視??I wouldn't have dared to defy my teachers. 我可不敢不聽老師的話。

2.~ belief, explanation, description, etc. to be impossible or almost impossible to believe, explain, describe, etc. 不可能，無法（相信、解釋、描繪等）

?a political move that defies explanation 無法解釋的政治舉動

3.to successfully resist sb/sth to a very unusual degree 經(jīng)受??；頂??；抗住??The baby boy defied all the odds and survived (= stayed alive when it seemed certain that he would die) . 這名男嬰九死一生活了下來。

IDIOMS 習(xí)語

I DEFY YOU/ANYONE TO DO STH

used to say that sb should try to do sth, as a way of emphasizing that you think it is impossible to do it 激，挑動（某人盡力做你認(rèn)為不可能的事）

"The previous crises were macroeconomic crises for which there were proven economic tools," he said. "Now we have an economic crisis caused by an epidemic which has induced fear and uncertainty in society, and monetary policy?as an economic tool to counter this crisis is proving to be?blunt."

monetary policy：貨幣政策

blunt /bl?nt/ ?

1.without a sharp edge or point 不鋒利的；鈍的??a blunt knife 鈍刀子

2.( of a person or remark 人或說話 ) very direct; saying exactly what you think without trying to be polite 嘴直的；直言的

3.to make sth weaker or less effective 使減弱；使降低效應(yīng)??Age hadn't blunted his passion for adventure. 歲月沒有沖淡他的冒險激情。

4.to make a point or an edge less sharp 使（尖端、刃）變鈍

原文鏈接：https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53675858

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