May 21 (Bloomberg) - China and Sri Lanka are better investment opportunities than India even after the Congress party’s biggest election victory in two decades, investor Jim Rogers said.
India’s benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex, jumped a record 17 percent on May 18, causing a trading halt, on speculation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s victory will enable him to accelerate economic reforms.
“I’ve heard the same thing for the last 30 years,” Rogers told an Economist Conferences forum in Singapore today, saying he’s skeptical of Singh’s pledges. Still, India will be “the next great investment” if Singh sticks to his commitments, Rogers said.
This week’s gains drove the Sensex to a 42 percent advance for 2009 to date, in line with the Shanghai Composite Index’s 43 percent climb on optimism China’s 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan will bolster the economy. Sri Lanka’s Colombo All- Share Index jumped to a seven-month high today as the central bank raised its forecast for economic growth following the end of a 26-year civil war.
“You’ve got the wind in your face doing business in India, you’ve got the wind in your back in China,” Rogers said, adding that he sees “great, cheap” opportunities in Sri Lanka because of “dramatic” changes in the country after the end of the war.
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