經合組織敦促印度加快改革

經濟合作與發展組織(OECD)昨日警告稱，如果印度想在2011年前實現該國政府設定的兩位數經濟增長目標，就必須進一步深化改革。

India must push through further reforms if it is to achieve the government’s objective of double-digit economic growth by 2011, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development warned yesterday.

總部位于巴黎的這個智庫機構在其首份印度經濟調查中表示，印度逐步轉向更為市場化的經濟體制，為該國帶來了不可否認的好處。

In its first economic survey of India, the Paris-based think-tank said the country’s gradual shift away towards a more market-based economy had yielded undeniable benefits.

目前，印度的人均國內生產總值正以每年7.5%的速度增長，遠遠高于1950-1980年間的1.25%。經合組織表示，以購買力平價(PPP)計算，更快的經濟增速已經使得印度在2006年以微弱優勢超越日本，成為全球第三大經濟，僅次于美國和中國。

India’s economic growth per capita was now rising by 7.5 per cent annually versus the 1.25 per cent seen between 1950 and 1980. The faster growth, the OECD said, had resulted in India becoming the third-largest economy in the world in 2006 in purchasing power parity terms behind only the US and China and slightly ahead of Japan.

但該組織警告稱，印度未能充分發掘自己作為一個勞動力豐富經濟體的比較優勢，原因是高水平的就業保護阻止了企業為大規模制造業雇傭工人。

But it warned India was not fully exploiting its comparative advantage as a labour-abundant economy because of high levels of employment protection that deterred companies from hiring workers for large-scale manufacturers.

在雇員10人以上企業工作的人數，僅占印度就業人口總數的3.75%，遠遠低于任何一個經合組織國家。印度的工作保護法規僅比兩個經合組織國家寬松，而嚴于所有其它成員國以及中國與巴西。

Employment in companies with more than 10 employees accounts for 3.75 per cent of employment in India, a much smaller proportion than any OECD country. India has stricter job protection laws than China, Brazil and all but two OECD countries.

經合組織呼應了要求改革《工業爭端法》(Industrial Disputes Act)的長期呼聲。該法要求，如果制造工廠雇傭超過100名工人，那么，哪怕企業只解雇1名工人，也要獲得政府批準。

It echoed longstanding calls for reform of the Industrial Disputes Act that requires businesses to obtain government permission to lay off even a single worker from manufacturing plants with more than 100 employees.

該組織稱：“有必要降低就業保護的嚴格程度，并且可以相應擴大遞增型離職補償金的范圍。”改革會幫助農村勞動力轉向更具生產力的領域。

“Reduction in the stringency of employment protection is needed and could be balanced by an increase in the extent of accrual-based severance payments,” it said. Reform would help shift rural labour to productive areas.

經合組織還敦促印度政府加速開放國際貿易，并將保險業和零售業等受到嚴密保護的服務行業向外商直接投資開放。

It also urged the government to open the economy more rapidly to international trade and to foreign direct investment in tightly protected service sectors, such as insurance and retailing.

小商人經常舉行示威活動，抗議信實工業(Reliance Industries)等大型企業進入印度支離破碎的零售業。信實工業計劃投資50億-70億美元，建立一個從農場到消費者的供應鏈。

Small traders have been holding regular protests against the inroads being made into the fragmented retail sector by big business houses such as Reliance Industries, which plans a $5bn-7bn investment in a farm-to-fork supply chain.