Market leaders urge finance minister to take liquidity-boosting measures in upcoming budget

New Delhi: Industry leaders from the capital market and financial sector urged measures to boost liquidity in the market and cut taxes on fixed deposit products in pre-budget consultations with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday.

The minister has met with economists, farmers associations, representatives of health, education, manufacturing sectors, MSMEs, and trade unions before Thursday’s seventh round of consultations.

The proposals made by the capital market and financial sector included suggestions to align the taxation of fixed deposit products with that of equity investments and further streamline KYC procedures for non-resident Indians (NRIs).

“Taxing fixed deposit products the same as equity products will help increase the liquidity in the market,” said a person aware of the matter, under the condition of anonymity.

“There were also proposals to simplify the KYC procedure for the NRIs, which included suggestions of implementing video KYC process with the NRIs living in FATF countries,” the person added.

At a crucial time

The discussions, held ahead of the Union budget to be presented on 1 February, come at a crucial time for India’s economy, which is grappling with slowing growth and geopolitical challenges to trade.

The pre-budget consultation with the leaders of the capital market and the financial sector was chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretaries of Department of Economic Affairs & Financial Services, Ajay Seth and M Nagaraju and Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran.

The consultation with the capital market and financial sector featured Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO of National Stock Exchange, Gopal Jain of Gaja Capital, Hitendra Dave, CEO of HSBC India, Rahul Bajoria, MD Bank of America, Partha Pratim Sengupta, MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank, Raman Aggarwal, Director of Finance Industry Development Council, Niraj Shah, CFO of HDFC Life Insurance, Radhika Gupta, MD & CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, Rahul Rathi, chairman & fund manager, Purnartha Investment Advisers (Purnartha) Private Limited, Shriram Iyer, CEO, HDFC Pension Management Company Limited, Deepti George, deputy ED at Dvara Research.

Slipping real GDP

Real GDP growth slipped to 5.4% in the September quarter, the lowest in nearly two years, dragged down by a slowdown in manufacturing, urban consumption, and weak corporate earnings. 

The earlier pre-budget consultations saw experts and industry leaders urging the government to implement measures to boost investment, education and healthcare sectors.

Last week, key proposals by industry bodies, who met the finance minister, included expanding presumptive taxation to MSMEs and emerging sectors like data centres and cloud computing, spurring job creation, integrating India into global value chains, and taking measures to boost domestic consumption.

Meanwhile, suggestions made by economists in their pre-budget consultations with the finance minister include the creation of a national manufacturing policy to strengthen the sector, reflecting the government’s renewed focus on industrial revival and proposals to boost demand through reductions in personal income and corporate taxes. 

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