India Tops Asia’s Most Investment-Driven Economy

Over the years, India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and an attractive investment destination driven by economic reforms and a large consumption base. Factors including government’s policies on the liberalization of most sectors for foreign investment, growing opportunities across sectors, skilled human resource, cost-effective production facilities and strong domestic demand have played a major role.

According to a new Standard Chartered study, India has emerged as Asia’s most investment savvy economy and over two-thirds of the country’s affluent class prefer to use various investment products to achieve their financial goals and greater social mobility.

While the number of people climbing the social ladder in the west, when it comes to invest, save and spend, is slowing down, there is an increase in new group of people in Asia, Middle East and Africa who are accumulating wealth and improving their personal well being rapidly and this group of people have been named in the study as ’emerging affluent’. The study examined the views of emerging affluent consumers from 11 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

As per the report of 11,000 emerging affluent consumers across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 68 per cent of Indian people belonging to this segment are using investment products to achieve their financial goals, as compared to an average figure of 57 per cent.

About 63 per cent of these people in India prefer investing in financial products as part of their long-term financial plan to meet financial goals and boost their personal wealth. On the other hand, another popular strategy adopted by these people was career progression and increment in salary (44 per cent), followed by starting a new business (25 per cent) to increase their wealth.

Saving for their children’s education, which is also the top savings priority across the markets, was the number one financial goal for India’s emerging affluents, the study showed.

Investment products, according to the company for this particular study, refers to fixed income investments, equities, stocks, unit trusts, mutual funds, self-invested pension funds, investment-linked insurance, real estate property funds and real estate investment trusts (REITs).

As per the study, new technology has made it easy to manage money effectively anywhere in the world. Online banking tools are playing a key role in effective money management today as the stock investments, transfers, payments and financial advice is just a touch of a button away today.

Latin Manharlal Group

India 58th Most Competitive Economy in WEF Index

In the midst of rapid technological change, political polarization and a fragile economic recovery around the world, the latest global competitiveness report signals a positive upswing for Indian economy.

According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index 2018, India has been positioned as the 58th most competitive economy globally with a marked jump of 5 places in just a year since 2017, marking the best jump among all the G20 nations.

The report said that India’s greatest competitive advantages include its market size, innovation, and business dynamism. However, India needs to improve in areas such as its labour market (particularly concerning workers’ rights), product market, and skills.

The index covers 140 nations and it measures national competitiveness. The United States ranked number one again with a score of 85.6 out of 100, with its strengths including business dynamism, labour market, and the financial system.

Singapore, in the second spot closely followed the US, maintained its competitiveness due to policies that promoted openness, which is a key driver for its economic success. Germany, in third place, scored highly on its macroeconomic stability but was held back due to slow adoption of IT.

Other countries in the top 10 include Switzerland (4th), Japan (5th), Netherlands (6th), Hong Kong (7th), United Kingdom (8th), Sweden (9th), and Denmark (10th).

According to the report, the top performers in the upper and lower middle-income brackets, such as China and India, are catching up with or even outperforming the average among high-income economies.

Among the BRICS economies, China topped the list at 28th place with a score of 72.6, ahead of the Russian Federation (65.6, 43rd), India (62.0, 58th), South Africa (60.8, 67th), and Brazil (59.5, 72nd).

India, however, remained the "South Asia's main driving force".

Latin Manharlal Group