India’s financial openness and integration with Southeast Asian countries: an analytical perspective

At present, most developed economies have open capital accounts coupled with liberalised domestic financial sectors. Following the trend, developing and transition economies have opened up mostly between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. The Economist recently carried an article proclaiming that emerging economies are driving global growth and making a big impact on developed countries as these newcomers integrate with the global economy. In several Indian cities, one can come across stores sporting the name China Bazaar, which essentially sell “made in China” goods for price-conscious Indian consumers. This is the effect of globalisation, which opens up the Indian economy to a world of opportunities for ordinary people to reap benefits. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, in his book Making Globalization Work (2006), pointed out that China and India are growing at historically unprecedented rates, largely because of globalisation, new technologies, and financial integration.