Panagariya for more trade openness for better growth rate

Pitching for greater trade liberalisation, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya today said no country has grown more than 6 per cent for longer period without rapid growth of trade.

"Trade openness in India has delivered. Trade liberalisation has done wonders to India... No country has grown more than 6 per cent for longer period without trade growing very rapidly," Panagariya said at an event here.

He said that in the 1980s, "we were fighting for trade liberalisation in India and at that time it was a contentious issue. But today it is not a contentious issue.

"Export to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 7% in 1991, now it is close to 25%".

Panagariya also noted that India's import to GDP ratio in 1950s was at around 10% of GDP, which in 1970s came down to 4-5% of GDP.

India is aiming to nearly double its exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020.

Most of the South East Asian economies including Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan maintained exceptionally high growth rates between the early 1960s and 1990s on the back of rapid increase in trade.