ABSTRACT
In 1990 and early 1991, a series of international and domestic shocks— including an oil price hike, a reduction in remittances from Indians working in the Middle East, a weakening in investor confidence following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, and expanding fiscal and trade deficits—precipitated a financial crisis in India. In return for receiving stand-by assistance from the International Monetary Fund inAugust 1991, the Indian government agreed to a standard policy prescription of stabilization and structural adjustment policies. Prominent among the policy reforms were substantial reductions in tariff levels on a wide range of imported products. Several new waves of reforms occurred in 1994 and 1997, with a slowdown in the pace of trade liberalization after 1997 as pressures from international agencies and creditors subsided.
