The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Dec 15, 2012, 08.35PM IST
NEW DELHI: (PTI) Global economy will go through a very rough time in the next two years and it is time for India to invest in infrastructure and soft sides of development, World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu said today.

“Over next two year, I believe global economy will go through a very rough time and what India can do… It is time for India to Invest in infrastructure, invest also in soft institutional sides of development,” Basu said while delivering a lecture at a function organised by Institute of Human Development here.

Basu said some countries have done well in investing in infrastructure which India failed to do.

“Some countries like China have heavily invested in infrastructure. But we have not done very well in that, of investing in infrastructure,” he said.

The Planning Commission has targeted investment of USD 1 trillion in infrastructure sector during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17)

Basu, who served as Chief Economic Advisor to government from December 2009 to July 2012, also said benefits of economic growth in the country are not reaching the masses.

“Although economic growth in India has been quite remarkable since 1991 but benefit of growth is not filtering down to the extent we wanted,” he said.

The World Bank has projected India’s growth of about 5.5 per cent for this year and below 6 per cent for 2013, Basu said. For 2014 and 2015, it has projected economic growth close to be about 7 per cent.

Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan has said that India is likely to grow at 5.5-6 per cent this fiscal.