NEW DELHI, April 15 (UPI) -- The next Indian coalition government will face difficult choices as voters prepare to go to the polls, analysts say.
The country's economic liberalization, begun under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 1991 when he was finance minister, has resulted in an average yearly economic growth of 9 percent since 2004 when the current Congress Party-led coalition government took over. But the global economic downturn has slowed growth and the country's deficits have soared, The New York Times reported.
Popular programs to help India's massive poor population, such as providing 100 days of employment to the poor, greater financing for schools and major debt forgiveness for farmers, won't be as easy to finance and experts warn that the next government will have to choose between populist giveaways and measures that genuinely kick-start the economy, the newspaper said.
Both the Congress Party and its principal opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, are promising more benefits as voters head to the polls Thursday, with the results expected to announced May 16.
