Call to manufacture' jobs: Gita Gopinadh

Kochi: It would take some more time to assess the impact of the introduction of GST on the Indian economy, professor of economics at Harvard University and chief minister’s economic advisor Gita Gopinadh has said. “I would wait for the results of another quarter to come,” she said on the sidelines of the #FUTURE summit here on Thursday. “There were a lot of confusion all around when GST, which is very good as an economic idea, was introduced. But it had no smooth roll out. They should have at least ensured that the platform was ready.” GST is a self-disciplining system which is very good for the emerging economies, especially since direct tax collection is a tough option in them, she said.   

Prof Gopinadh, who parried a question whether the government should cut down on its expenditure given its financial constraints, however, said the state’s economy makes steady improvement in its growth. Asked about the government’s plan to bring manufacturing on to the focus of the state’s economy, she said manufacturing industry must be encouraged as long as it is green and not polluting. “It’s important for job creation, too,” she said. “Historically, manufacturing has been good at the creation of jobs compared with the others.”