It’s one he’s been ducking for the decade-plus that he’s been in power. Since he was first elected in 2014, Modi’s economic policy has had two pillars: Fiscal restraint and ever-higher infrastructure spending. He may no longer be able to manage both. Which will win?
From the outside, the economy looks like it is in a “Goldilocks phase,” as the commentator TN Ninan has argued: inflation is low, the trade deficit manageable, and private-sector balance sheets are healthy. But, he points out, that doesn’t mean the economy is actually growing any faster than it was a decade ago, when it had far more troubles.
