Manmohan Singh: Architect of India's Economic Reforms

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Manmohan Singh's contributions as the architect of India's economic reforms have left an indelible mark, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday as he paid tribute to the departed soul.

Singh, the former prime minister and finance minister, also served as the RBI governor between 1982 and 1985.

"I am deeply saddened on the passing away of former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, a visionary economist and former RBI Governor. His contributions as the architect of India's economic reforms have left an indelible mark. @RBI joins the nation in mourning this huge," Malhotra said in a post on X.

Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, died here on Thursday night at the age of 92.

When Singh took the reins of the finance ministry in 1991, India's fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of the GDP, the balance of payments deficit was huge and the current account deficit was close to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

To make things worse, foreign reserves were just enough to pay for two weeks of imports, indicating that the Indian economy was in deep crisis.

Against this backdrop, the new economic era was brought in through the Union Budget 1991-92 presented by Singh.

It was a turning point in the economic history of independent India which witnessed bold economic reforms, abolition of licence raj and opening of many sectors to private players and foreign players so that capital could flow in.

Singh served as Prime Minister of the country for two consecutive terms 2004-09 and 2009-14.

He is survived by wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters.