In 1991, India was facing serious money problems, but former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stepped in to help the country recover and grow as an economic power. His smart ideas were influenced by what he learned in school. Singh studied at Oxford University under Professor Ian Little, an important economist.
It’s interesting to note that India’s early economic plans weren’t made in isolation. They involved help from US and UK economists, defying the belief that India followed only Soviet-style planning.
In 1958, a team of economists, including Little, came to India to work on its economic plans. Their suggestions greatly shaped India’s third five-year plan (1961-66).
For his advanced degree, Singh chose to study why India’s exports weren’t doing well between 1951-1960 and what needed to happen by 1971. His thesis, “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth,” pointed out that India needed to focus on exports rather than only reducing imports. Singh believed that if India wanted to grow successfully, it had to strengthen its exports, like other countries such as Japan and South Korea did.
In 1991, he took action by making the Indian rupee cheaper, making exports more competitive. He also lowered taxes on imports and lifted restrictions on trade, connecting India to the global economy.
Under Singh’s leadership, India moved from having only enough money for two weeks of imports to having $25 billion in reserves within four years. His efforts also led to lifting 271 million people out of poverty between 2005 and 2014 while providing support to those in need.
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