Economics
India's Statistics Woes Prompt Call for Independent Verifier
- Think tank founded by RBI sees combined fiscal gap at over 7%
- Government data from jobs to growth have come into question
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An Indian think tank founded by the central bank wants the government to form an independent body to vet official data after questions were raised about the credibility of the nation’s statistics.
Some of the assumptions for economic growth and deficits made in the interim budget “are subject to much debate,” Amartya Lahiri, director at the Mumbai-based Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning, or CAFRAL, said in an interview. “We have an unhappy situation where markets, agencies, and foreign investors are all making their own assumptions.”