India needs to implement planned reforms: IMF chief

NEW DELHI - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said on Monday that India has an opportunity to emerge as one of the world's most dynamic economies, but it needs to implement the planned reforms and open up more fully to the world.

Lagarde, who started the India visit on Monday, said in an interview with local daily The Times of India that the steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan would steer the economy to a higher growth trajectory.

She also called for bringing more women into the workforce to boost growth in India.

IMF has recently raised its growth forecast of Indian economy for the current fiscal to 7.2 percent.

In its annual report, the IMF has forecast that Indian economy would grow by 7.5 percent in the 2015-16 fiscal year that starts on April 1 this year.

The new forecasts have taken into account a revised methodology adopted by India earlier this year for calculating the GDP figures.