Indian chief financial officers (CFOs) are cautiously optimistic about the future state of Indian economy, says a survey by Deloitte India.
Around 136 CFOs of listed and unlisted companies, across sectors, participated in the survey, of which, 62 per cent expressed optimism about the state of the Indian economy over the longer term.
However, they continued to remain uncertain about the short-term impact of the Government’s recent policy reforms such as increased incentives for investors (in sectors such as insurance, pension, multi-brand retail), reducing subsidies (oil) and the proposed disinvestment of public sector units (energy, natural gas).
Around 57 per cent of the CFOs were neutral (neither optimistic nor pessimistic) about the current economic condition of India, whereas only 18 per cent were optimistic, the survey findings showed.
“The optimism and sentiments expressed by the CFOs indicate that they are exhibiting caution regarding the present state of the Indian economy. Although CFOs are concerned with the current economic conditions, their level of optimism is significantly higher for the future,” said Sanjay Sen, senior director, Deloitte in India.
Over 45 per cent of the CFOs expressed concern over changing cost structures, inflationary pricing trends, industry regulations, and unavailability of adequate skilled resources as key economic concerns.
Although the CFOs still look forward to Government intervention to address the current industry concerns, they also consider other factors (skill set unavailability, cost structures and pricing trends) as equally critical.
srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in