"Rather than look to conquer new ground in the run-up to the 2019 hustings, we expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to focus on cementing the success of his reforms and infrastructure projects already started. More focus will be on administrative initiatives and not new legislative reforms on the macroeconomic front," Barclays India chief economist Siddhartha Sanyal said in a weekend note. "Notwithstanding his aggressive reforms since 2014, we believe Modi will be selective in picking his battles and deploying his political capital ahead of the 2019 polls . A likely absence of near-term benefits will likely remain a constraining factor against launching new reforms in the run-up to the polls. There is a possibility of stricter political funding rules, a crackdown on benami properties and progress towards greater disclosure of overseas assets of citizens," Sanyal says.

Source: Times of India August 13, 2017 06:46 UTC