Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his 13th straight Independence Day speech on the country’s 80th anniversary of independence. He focused on India’s development and future goals for a developed nation by 2047.
From the Red Fort ramparts, Modi stated that India has advanced from the ‘Fragile Five’ to the world’s fastest-growing major economy over the past 12 years, according to PTI.
The Fragile Five label was created in 2013 by Morgan Stanley to identify five emerging economies vulnerable to outside financial shocks. The group included India along with Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey.
Contemporary reports noted that ending low-cost funding and reducing U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus, while positive for America, could affect these five economies significantly.
Essentially, the term described emerging markets heavily dependent on foreign funds and exposed to sudden shifts in global investment flows.
A Morgan Stanley note from August 2013 highlighted high inflation, slowing growth, large external deficits, possible China slowdown effects and reliance on fixed-income inflows as key risks for these currencies.
India faced inclusion due to elevated inflation, a widening current account deficit, a falling rupee and strong dependence on overseas capital.
India left the group in 2014 after the IMF raised its growth outlook. An IMF official told The Hindu that India stood apart from other emerging markets previously labeled Fragile Five and was now better positioned against external shocks.
Modi and the BJP have frequently used the Fragile Five reference to contrast economic conditions before and after 2014.
The comment appeared as Modi used his address to stress economic gains and his vision ahead.
He called on citizens to aim high for Viksit Bharat 2047, saying modest goals no longer suffice and that the world’s most populous country becoming developed would change global perceptions.
Modi also stressed self-reliance to cut dependence on other nations amid global tensions.
