Prime Minister Narendra Modi has debuted at the 13th spot in ‘Bloomberg Markets Most Influential’ annual ranking topped by US Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen. Chinese premier Xi Jinping, US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are other politicians ranked above PM Modi in the coveted list of 50 people.
“He won election in May 2014 by the widest margin in 30 years, giving him a shot at making some investment-friendly reforms that have faced stubborn resistance in the world’s largest democracy. India might grow faster than China this year,” Bloomberg wrote about PM Modi.
The rankings come at a time when India has made rapid progress to emerge as the world’s number one destination for foreign direct investment, according to The Financial Times newspaper. The country also moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world’s most competitive economies, according to the World Economic Forum. India’s progress has been linked to several initiatives taken by the 15-month-old Narendra Modi government.
“In selecting our influential elite, we favour recent accomplishments over lifetime achievements. Half the people here have never appeared on our list before… China, for better or worse, is vital to global markets, and we have a bigger Asia cohort than ever,” Bloomberg said.
The only other Indian on the list is 41-year-old Ruchir Sharma, who heads emerging markets and global macro at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
Recently, he’s warned that China could push the world economy into its next recession, Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg Markets Most Influential list is dominated by billionaire CEOs such as Apple’s Tim Cook, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein and JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon.
