New Delhi: India jumped 16 places in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2016-17 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) to emerge as the highest rising economy due to improvement in goods market efficiency, business sophistication and innovation.India was ranked 39 out of 138 countries which were reviewed. This is the second year in a row that the country has climbed 16 places in the ranking, according to WEF.Switzerland, Singapore and the US remain as the world’s most competitive economies. China ranks 28 in the index. Among the other BRICS countries, Russia is ranked 43rd, South Africa at 47, while Brazil declined six notches to end up at 81.“Thanks to improved monetary and fiscal policies, as well as lower oil prices, the Indian economy has stabilized and now boasts the highest growth among G20 economies,” according to the GCI report. It measures 12 areas which include institutions, infrastructure, macro-economic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods and market efficiency, labour market efficiency among others.“Recent reform efforts have concentrated on improving public institutions, opening the economy to foreign investors and international trade and increasing transparency in the financial system,” it said. India is seen as a bright spot by several multilateral agencies thanks to its robust economic growth. The economy is expected to grow by 7.6% in the current fiscal year and the revival in rural demand due to solid monsoon rains is expected to add to overall growth.The government has also taken a string of reform measures such as getting the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code in place, liberalisation of the foreign direct investment regime, the passage of the Aadhar bill as well as parliament’s approval to the Constitution amendment bill for the Goods and Services Tax (GST).Economists said the government’s push to plug gaps in the economy had helped. “Relative to other economies, the Narendra Modi government has focussed on repair and reform of the economy which is pushing up India’s competitiveness,” said D K Joshi, chief economist at ratings agency Crisil. “India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business is also likely to go up.”He said India’s ranking has improved in the WEF’s Global Competitive Index, The World Bank’s Ease of Doing index, Index of Transparency International showing corruption situation was improving and the World Bank’ logistics index.The government has taken several steps to improve the country’s rank in the Ease of Doing Business index. It ranked 130 out of 189 countries in 2016 after jumping 12 places.According to WEF’s GCI, there are several areas which need to be improved. “the labour market is segmented between workers protected by rigid regulations and centralized wage determination, especially in the manufacturing sector, and millions of unprotected and informal workers,” according to the GCI report.“The efficiency of the domestic market is hindered by fiscal regulations that allow federal states to levy different levels of value added taxes, large publicly owned enterprises further reduce the overall efficiency of the economy, especially in the utilities sector and the financial market where there is a growing concern about the incidence of non-performing loans,” it added.