Budget 2023: Bankers Laud Growth Focus, Fiscal Discipline

Mumbai, Jul 23 (PTI) Bankers on Tuesday lauded the proposals presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for being growth-focused without compromising on fiscal math.

"It is a budget focused on infrastructure development, improving domestic employment and skills and overall growth of the economy without deviating from the fiscal math," industry grouping Indian Banks Association's chairman M V Rao, who also heads state-run Central Bank of India, said.

He said the overall focus of the budget is to stimulate the domestic growth impulses by concentrating on employment, skilling, micro, small and medium enterprises and the middle class.

Country's largest lender SBI's chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said the proposals will help prop-up the sagging consumption activity in the economy and termed it as an "inclusive" budget which seeks to address various constituents in the economy.

In a conversation with PTI Videos, Khara also said banks will be helped by the announcements like the one on Prime Minister Awas Yojana which will push credit growth, and also welcomed the specific measures on loan recovery.

State-run Bank of Baroda's chief executive and managing director Debadatta Chand said the budget and the Economic Survey released on its eve focus on the medium-term development for the economy.

For the banking sector, there are positives like the thrust on small businesses, emphasis on education loans and the promises on upgrading the debt recovery tribunals, he said.

"The commitment to construct additional 3 crore houses under the PMAY 2.0, spanning across rural and urban sectors, is a game-changing initiative that will catalyze growth throughout the housing finance ecosystem," IIFL Home Finance's chief executive Monu Ratra said.

Umesh Revankar, the executive vice chairman of non-bank lender Shriram Finance said the proposals were in sync with the announcements in the interim budget, and welcomed the focus on employment, skilling and small businesses.

"The budget has identified key areas which need to be supported to ensure all-round growth, identified issues that are hampering the growth and looked at finding logical, rational and viable solutions for these issues," he added.

Foreign lender Standard Chartered's Zarin Daruwala said the narrowing of the fiscal deficit will result in lower government borrowing, and coupled with index inclusion flows, will reduce interest rates across the economy.

"Leveraging technology platforms to strengthen Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and setting up of additional tribunals will lead to transparency and efficiency, benefitting the banking sector," she added.

South Indian Bank's CEO P R Seshadri said the enhancement of MUDRA loan limits and credit guarantee scheme will incentivize lenders to direct resources to the small businesses.

Education loans-focused Avanse Financial Services' MD and CEO Amit Gainda said the provision to extend financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions can make quality education accessible and added that the 3 per cent interest subvention will help further.