India still in middle class in ease of biz: WEF chief

He said most jobs in the future will be self generated and the country should have an education system that is future-ready. “The education system has to be tailored to provide skills that we need tomorrow. The country also has to create the necessary ecosystem for all entrepreneurial activities,” he said.

Schwab highlighted that it will be less, not-so-big companies which will provide jobs in the future and “to facilitate startups is absolutely essential”.

Talking about ease of doing business, he pointed out that in global competitiveness, India is ranked the 58th among 140 countries, which is five places up over 2017.

“So, it’s far from being perfect. I also think the very important indicator is that how long it takes to create business and you have some places today where it takes half a day. India is still in the middle class here,” he added.

Reflecting foreign investor concern at the circumstances in which previous RBI Governor Urjit Patel quit office, Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said the resignation highlights the risks to the central bank’s policy priorities and that its sovereign rating assessment of India could change if government influence pushes the RBI away from its mandate. 

In a report following Patel’s abrupt resignation on Monday, the rating MNC warned increased government influence on the RBI could undermine the central bank’s efforts to improve banking sector health by addressing NPAs. “The resignation follows a period of government pressure on the central bank to spur economic growth, and highlights risks to the RBI’s policy priorities,” Fitch Ratings said. It held that the RBI’s efforts to address the bad loan problems have the potential to improve the banking sector’s health over the long term and its commitment to inflation targeting has supported a more stable macroeconomic environment.