New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- High government borrowing, rising risk premiums and massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI) are pushing up the cost of capital across economies, including for emerging markets like India, economic affairs secretary Anuradha Thakur said on Sunday.

Speaking at a late-evening session of the Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi, Thakur said the defining challenge for economies today is not just how they respond to change, but how effectively they anticipate, adapt to and harness it.

For decades, Thakur said, businesses prioritised cost optimization, just-in-time production and integrated global supply chains.

"Resilience, adaptability, and flexibility now seem to matter equally if not more. But they come...