Why calling the Indian economy the 'most open' is a step too far
'We have moved upwards in almost all the global indices…and transformed our country into one of the most open economies in the world.' – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India
So is the Indian economy as open as Modi claims it is? Not if we go by the indicators available to us.One way to measure a country's openness is to look at the trade-GDP %, which tells you how large its trade is compared to its economy. Looking at World Bank data for 2014-15 for the G20 countries, Germany's was highest at 86% with India far behind at 50%.A more comprehensive measure is the 2015 Open Markets Index from the International Chamber of Commerce. This index not only looks at openness to trade, but also openness to foreign direct investment, trade policies etc. According to the 2015 Index, the most open economies are Singapore and Hong Kong with scores of 5.5 out of 6, while India only scored 2.6, which is classified as "below-average openness".So while India is definitely becoming more open, calling it one of the most open in the world is going a step too far.