Economic doubts in India deepening: Pew Research

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil

Published: Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 8:47 [IST]

The economic euphoria in India over the last few years, inspired by the country's seemingly inevitable march toward double-digit growth, has suddenly soured, a Pew Research Center's Global Attitude Project has stated.

"Although still relatively upbeat compared with many other countries, the Indian public's confidence in their country's direction and future economic growth has declined significantly compared with just a year ago. In a world where the Americans, the Europeans and even the Chinese have reason to worry about their economies, it is the Indians who have lost the greatest faith in their economic fortunes, " the Study has noted.

Indians today are mixed in their assessment of their national economy: 49% say the economy is in good shape, while 45% describe the economy as bad.

"A year ago opinion was more upbeat, with a 56%-majority saying the national economy was doing well, compared with 43% who disagreed. Despite this decline, Indians remain more positive about current economic conditions than populations in most of the 17 countries surveyed in both 2011 and 2012 by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. And Indians are more optimistic about their economy's trajectory over the next year than many of the public surveyed in both year," the Pew Study states.

According to it, the trend line in India conveys a more troubling story. Just 38% of Indians are satisfied with the way things are going in the country - a 13 percentage point decline since last year. This is among the largest drops in national contentment across the countries surveyed in 2011 and 2012.

"The proportion of Indians who think current economic conditions are good is down seven percentage points from 2011. And only 45% of Indians think their economy will improve over the next 12 months," says the Study.

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