Access To Credit Has Improved In India, Says Legatum Prosperity Index 2017

The prosperity has improved around the world in 2017, but, the fastest-moving region has been Asia-Pacific, a recently released the Legatum Prosperity Index 2017 said. According to the Index released by international think-tank Legatum Institute, gains came through a fast-improving business environment, especially in the population centres of India (100th), China (90th), Pakistan (137th) and Indonesia (59th). It is now easier to access credit, and intellectual property rights have improved.

While European nation Norway topped the list, India moved up four notches compared to its last year's ranking of 104.

Parameters

In the Index, the prosperity of a country is calculated on the basis of nine pillars – economic quality, business environment, governance, personal freedom, social capital, safety and security, education, health and natural environment.

Here are some of the findings:

*India improved four ranks through gains in business environment, economic quality and governance. In economic quality, this is due to the proportion of the population with bank accounts, which increased from 35 per cent in 2011 to 53 per cent in 2014.

*India saw the largest falls in reported availability of adequate food since last year. In India, the number of people saying there had been times when they did not have enough to eat rose from 26 per cent to 35 per cent.

*India has significantly improved in terms of economic quality and education pillars. For instance, more people are now satisfied with their standard of living and household incomes.

*India fares poorly in terms of personal freedom (100^th), safety and security (134^th) and natural environment (139^th). The total number of countries surveyed stood at 149.

*In terms of governance, the report says that a notable example in legislation in India is the increased ability to challenge regulation in the legal system.