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In 2015, India took over the title of the fastest growing economy from China. This is partly due to China’s slowest growth year in a quarter of a century. Even with the fast rising economy, India is a still a nation filled with poverty. Tim Worstall from Forbes stated that “Poverty is, after all, simply a lack of both stuff to consume and the wherewithal to purchase such, and economic growth is defined as more stuff and the incomes to purchase such. Thus economic growth is, by definition, the solution to poverty.” This is great news for the politicians as well as the people, as it shows a solution to a problem that has long plagued the sub-continent. The rupee, India’s currency, has been on a down swing lately, as value has stayed relatively low given the economic gains. This, however, may also be beneficial as it makes exports cheaper for foreign consumers, which leads to a greater volume of exports and thus a boost in GDP.
On the other side of this, China has seen its economy slow down considerably. Although the country’s economy is still growing at a decent pace, the slowdown has some economists raising alarms. However, government officials in China are convinced that the perceived economic slowdown will not hurt China in the long-run and will not drag down the global economy. "China will absolutely not experience a hard landing," Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told reporters at a briefing. "These predictions of a hard landing are destined to come to nothing." This quote summarizes the thinking of all of China at the moment. Just because India is currently growing faster than China does not mean they are willing to concede defeat just yet. After a growth rate of 6.9% last year, China is setting its goal at 6.5%-7% for 2016. The emergence of two fast growing economies in the region has lured investors' interest in the past. The question remains, will these countries garner this same level of investor interest going forward?
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