Blog
Deconstructing the Rural economy
Monday, March 25th, 2019
Fascinating discussion on underlying drivers behind rural economy distress and what can be done to address it.
Some interesting points raised:
- Are MSPs effective and actually getting to the end beneficiaries? Is this a band-aid that, without structural changes to agriculture, will create further problems down the line
- Are loan waivers a permanent subsidy because voters do not want withdrawal of benefits?
- Earlier the policy was do ban informal lending. It would be worth re-looking at this and try and bring informal lenders into the fold. A number of such lenders have been in operation for decades and know their customers well
- Currently insurance schemes are very inefficient and do not have much impact. Digital solutions can be adopted to improve delivery and ensure more people can benefit
- Health insurance is only one piece of the puzzle. We still do not have adequate supply of healthcare facilities and services
- There has been rampant and rapid transition to financial services. But do investors understand the underlying risk they are taking for these investments?
About the author
Rishad is the founder of Kairos Capital. He started his career with Standard Chartered Wealth Management and has extensive experience in markets, particularly in terms of mutual funds and stocks.
