Ajay Piramal
The Union Budget 2019 is marked with a long term 10-year vision while retaining focus on the immediate priorities. The government’s roadmap to position the economy for future sustainable growth will resonate with both domestic and international stakeholders.
India now approaching the global markets to raise sovereign debt, indicates the country’s readiness to be sized amongst the best in the world. This is a huge vote of confidence in the economy and its trajectory.
Also read: Full text of FM Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech
The focused impetus for sustainable job creation via targeted investment in infrastructure projects and other productive sectors of the economy will have a cascading effect on secondary and tertiary employment. The mission to provide housing for all by 2022 has the potential not just for growth in downstream sectors such as cement and steel but also for overall job creation in these crucial industries.
We are happy to see the government signal its confidence for a well-financed, robust NBFC sector through the one-time six-month partial credit guarantee.
This development would be an important milestone for the NBFC sector that is crucial for the sustained growth of the economy. We welcome the regulations and norms that have been proposed by the Finance Minister on the NBFC sector that would raise transparency and reinstate trust in this vital sector.
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The detailed plan of action provided in this budget to address long standing issues like a deeper debt market by invoking higher foreign participation will certainly help in lowering the real borrowing costs of India Inc. and help revive the momentum in private investment.
The move to encourage higher participation of FIIs and FPIs in debt securities would provide the much-needed capital boost which would in turn, support real estate and automobile sectors that are currently suffering from dampened demand.
In addition, the proposed social stock exchange is an innovative approach to raise funds for institutions committed to improving the wellbeing of larger masses. The government has tabled a growth-positive budget and I look forward to see its impact unfold in the coming months."
(The author is the Chairman of Piramal Group)
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