HomeEconomy NewsHere's what experts make of Nirmala Sitharaman's announcements to boost Indian economy

Here's what experts make of Nirmala Sitharaman's announcements to boost Indian economy

Three months after the budget presentation, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to boost the Indian economy.

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By Shereen Bhan   | Latha Venkatesh  August 23, 2019, 9:53:04 PM IST (Updated)

Three months after the budget presentation, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to boost the Indian economy. CNBC-TV18 spoke to experts to understand the impact of the measures announced by the minister.



Shamika Ravi, Member of PMEAC said, "This is going to have a very significant impact on the sentiment. It is good to have a government that is responding to stakeholders. The consultation work that she has carried across sectors, it is all coming together in the form of a series of backend regulatory cost reductions and it is very welcome."

RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki said, "I think all of these are very positive steps. The finance minister has taken many positive steps on consumer finance, inventory financing, settlement by banks, MSME etc."

"The most impressive to me is the kind of commitment and responsiveness the finance minister and the ministry has shown to the problems raised by the different sectors in their interactions with the minister just about a week ago. I don't think I ever recollect seeing this kind of positive and quick and comprehensive response from the finance ministry ever," Bhargava said.

Prashant Kumar, chief financial officer and deputy managing director of SBI said, "This would be a huge relief for the MSME sector and in turn for the banks also. Any stress on the SME side is transferred to the banks. So, all these measures for the MSME, the vehicles segment and the promise to think on the home loan side is definitely going to help."

Nandita Parker, the managing partner at Karma Capital Management, said, "Let me congratulate the finance minister as she has done an extraordinary job today. It is actually much better than I expected. When I think about the meeting that we had just two weeks ago, I had an extremely positive feeling that FM was listening and that she would act on the recommendations at the Managers Round Table of India."

"I am extremely grateful that she has responded so quickly and decisively. Not just for foreigner portfolio exchange (FPIs), but I also think for what she has done for the overall market sentiment, for alternative investment funds (AIF) category, for high net worth individuals and this will revise a sentiment. Combined with all the measure that she has announced today for the housing sector, for banks to take actions, for the auto sector, just making it easier to carry on the function of doing business, it is a very big thing," Parker said.

Arvind Virmani of Egrow Foundation said, "I am very happy and this press conference of the finance minister provides ample proof of that she has heard our suggestions and has responded. It is an excellent signal for many reasons. One, it is a very complex economy. Second, there are all kinds of threats and opportunities arising internally and externally and it gives me encouragement that the government is refocusing on the economy. Basically, they have been no fundamental reforms since 2004."

"Besides Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), there was really no reform initiative taken and that is what is encouraging about it and I look forward to many such things. It is not only that the finance ministry has listened but by and large, I think they tried to focus and that is the nature of good policy," Virmani said.

Pawan Goenka, managing director of M&M said, "Clearly, what has been announced today and the steps that the government has taken that is a lot to boost sentiment. Second is financing, that is more or less taken care of by the announcements today as passing down the repo rate reduction is something that they are going to enforce."

"Also, the FM has said there will be more announcements coming. She has alluded to a scrappage policy and that obviously will be a big boost especially for the commercial vehicle segment Overall, a very positive thing that has been done. Clearly, the industry was expecting and hoping for GST reductions. We know this was not a GST council meeting so that was not to be expected today," Goenka said.

Follow our complete coverage of measures announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman here.

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