IMF Hails DBT Schemes of India And Calls It As Logistical Marvel

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) hailed the Indian Government’s Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, and called it as a “logistical Marvel.”

The statement from the IMF came as a big accolade for the Narendra Modi led Central Government, which launched the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.  The applause to the scheme was given in then view of sheer size of the country and the implementation under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Government of India.

On the 13th of October, Thursday, the IMF Deputy Director of Fiscal Affairs Departmen Mr. Paolo Mauro said that while there is a lot to learn from countries across the globe, India’s DBT scheme is quite impressive.   He further said that the way DBT programme that seeks to help people who are at low-income levels reach hundreds of millions of people is a logistical marvel.

The IMF Deputy Director said there are programmes that target specifically women or the elderly and farmers and praised the technological innovation involved in these programmes.

In addition, during the press meet, the IMF’s chief economist Pierre Olivier Gourinchas also said that India has emerged as a bright light at a time when the world is facing imminent prospects of a recession.  Due to pandemic many countries across the globe faced recession and major economic crises.  However, in a very short span, with initiatives and schemes of India, the Central Government emerged out of the economic crisis and helped to fave the recession phase, with good results.

Mr. Olivier Gourinchas noted that India needs some key structural reforms to achieve the ambitious target of a 10 trillion dollar economy.  The chief economist also applauded India’s digitisation efforts terming it a game changer. He said that digitisation is helping along a number of dimensions including the promotion of financial inclusion.