O'Neill favours Russia over 'expensive' India

Jim O'Neill, the chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, is eyeing China and Russia as the most attractive BRIC countries while shunning "expensive" India.

Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), O'Neill flagged up China and Russia as his BRIC favourites but said India was still "relatively expensive", CNBC reported. Russia has been heavily criticised for its barriers to growth in terms of demographics. It has one of the world's lowest birth rates, leading to a shrinking population, and a lower life expectancy rate than the developed world. However, O'Neill said this trend is reversing, and he has been encouraged by president Dmitry Medvedev's pledge to crackdown on corruption and improve Moscow's financial re...