India's economic revolution of 1991: Manmohan Singh's lasting legacy

India's financial sector, dominated by public sector banks in 1991, had been long repressed by rigid controls on interest rate

The acclaimed “architect of India’s economic reforms” has gone, mourned by people across political parties and professions, not just economists, civil servants and journalists. Backed by his prime minister, PV Narasimha Rao, Singh, as finance minister, transformed the challenge of the serious balance of payments crisis of 1991 into an opportunity to implement the most wide-ranging and sustained programme of economic reforms ever undertaken in India. Many would agree with this broad statement, though few may recall the key themes that underpinned these reforms, let alone the major policy actions taken. A brief summary might remind us of just how