India has ‘gigantic challenges but remarkable strengths,’ says former ECB Chief Jean-Claude Trichet

India has the resilience to withstand the shock of US tariffs but must press ahead with structural reforms if it is to sustain 8% annual GDP growth, former European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet told CNBC-TV18.

In an exclusive interview, Trichet praised India’s resilience amid global volatility and its strong human capital, while cautioning that creating jobs and sustaining reforms remain crucial.

"India has enormous challenges—as underlined by the central bank governor and finance minister. They have a lot of jobs to create. The challenges are really gigantic," Trichet said.

The former ECB president noted that India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing major economies, with growth projections recently revised upward to 6.8% for FY26 despite global headwinds such as tariffs, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical conflicts.

Highlighting India’s strengths, Trichet called the quality of Indian engineers and professionals "remarkable," noting that European companies are "very happy" with Indian talent. He also lauded India’s long tradition in mathematics and its strong science and technology education system.

On India’s ambition to become a developed economy by 2047, Trichet struck an optimistic yet cautious note. "India should not be complacent. It’s a very ambitious goal and calls for very ambitious reforms. But I am reasonably confident," he said.

Trichet also weighed in on global economic uncertainty, saying U.S. tariff policies are "negative for growth everywhere," and warned that central banks—including India’s—face persistent inflationary pressures. He credited the RBI’s flexible inflation targeting framework as "a success," but underscored the need for structural reforms and policy continuity to maintain investor confidence.