Los Cabos (AsiaNews/Agencies) - India has pledged $10 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help eurozone countries overcome the current crisis, and try to prevent possible effects on emerging economies (the Brics: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). This was announced today by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the G20 in Mexico, in progress during these days. The Indian contribution to the sum of the other Brics, who together would participate with a total of $75 billion to the $430 billion "firewall" that the IMF would create to counter new financial crises. For now, Russia has pledged $10 billion, while China has pledged $43 billion.

With this contribution, the Brics are hoping to avoid any negative impact on their economies, already tested in the last period. This year India has recorded the lowest growth rate in the last 10 years, closing the 2011-2012 year at 6%, compared with 8.4% in 2010-2011. Recently, the Prime Minister announced investments of $1 million for new infrastructure (including highways, ports and airports), hoping to revive the country's economy and regain support among the population.

However, the reforms in question relate largely to the sector of industries and large enterprises - 14% of the workforce - the protagonists in the last 15 years of liberalization promoted by the Indian government. Liberalization which, on the contrary, limit the productivity of self-employed workers (craftsmen, small entrepreneurs) and farmers, increasingly relegated to the margins. These sectors together account for over 90% of the workforce in India.

Meanwhile, while the Indian government promises economic aid to rescue the euro, according to a survey by the Planning Commission, from 2004/2005 to 2009/2010, the level of poverty in India declined from 37.2% to 29.8%. This means that in the country, about 360 million people still live below the poverty line (about $1 per day), of a total population of 1.2 billion. During the period under review, rural poverty has declined more rapidly than urban poverty.