Figure Watch

long haul to riches

India has just taken a few tottering steps towards becoming a developed nation and it has a long way to go. The International Monetary Funds undertook an exercise to figure out how many years would it take for developing countries to close the income gap with developed countries. To reduce the per capita income gap in 1995 by half, India would need 154 years if its relative per capita grew at the rate of 1.4 per cent the average for 1990-95.

But if it grew at a rate of 3 per cent the rate at which it grew in 1995 and 1996, the it will take 70 years. China on the other hand will take only 16 years it it grows at an average relative per capita income growth rate of 9.5 per cent which it maintained during 1990-95. Malaysia will only take eight years while Vietnam will take only 87 years.