Emergence of Fintech has strengthened the financial sector by reducing cost and improving access to financial services: Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, CEA
New Delhi : The government has emerged as an enabler of citizen centric services through public digital platforms says, Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India.
“Having certainty in these times is like trying to procure crude oil on the cheap, its just not possible because there are so many forces and so many developments that are foreseen and unforeseen that can shape outcomes with respect to growth, inflation , external value of the rupee etc. The government is pursuing a high-wire balancing act on fiscal deficit, economic growth, keeping cost of living low for poor and low income households and ensuring that the external value of the rupee does not so much that it becomes a source of inflation via imports etc. to preserve the hard won gains of the last four years in macro-economic and financial stability. The OECD’s forecast for 2023 puts India in a relatively better position considering the challenges many countries are facing. We are aware of the challenges and responsibilities.”
“Global investment activity in Fintech has been positive and the digital investment market is set to be worth $14.3 bn by 2025, growing from $6.4 bn in 2021 at a 5-year CAGR of 22.4%. It is important to ensure that much of the investments is happening for genuine reasons, in real businesses so that consumers and service providers are benefitted. We went through a period of adjustment in the financial and banking sector in the last decade which enabled the Fintech industry to grow faster than what was projected. A 2011 study by BIS projected that India would take nearly half a century to reach the banking penetration of 80% adult population but India got there in only 6 years. In an era of rapid change, which has been the case ever since technology became a driving force of many things in the world. It is good therefore remain open minded to deal with the changes as they come along and respond to them. The growth of the Fintech industry in India in particular is a classic example of that. India has seen tremendous growth on the Digital Payments platform with Unified Payments Interface (UPI), recording 5.58 billion transactions in April 2022, a new all-time high for the payment platform since its inception. We have justifiable reason to be proud of what the country has achieved.” said the CEA while addressing the on-going India International Fintech Festival organized by ASSOCHAM.
Shri Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM delivering the welcome address said, “India has come out really strong from the impact of COVID, a lot of positivity is in the air whether it is small scale, medium scale or large-scale industry, we all witnessing strong growth vibes across sectors. The resilience of the Indian industry and of the country is being displayed. The various reforms have made a positive impact, the best of GST is yet to come and the government must bring Gas, Oil under GST.
Investments are being made in the infrastructure of this country, for businesses to plug into the global value chain needs supporting infrastructure along with cost of doing business and the government is taking all steps. The government’s announcement of 75, 000 crore rupees worth of defence procurement from Indian manufacturers will be a game changer as it would be manufactured MSME and large companies in the country”.
The event was also addressed by industry veterans and stalwarts like Shri Dharmender Jhamb, VP, Paytm; Shri Manish Chopra, Director & Head of partnership, India, Meta; Shri Raunak Maheshwari, ED, Extreme Internet Exchange; Shri Vikas Varma, COO, South Asia, Mastercard; Shri Bhavesh Gupta, CEO Lending & Head, Offline payments, PayTM; Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Co-Founder & CEO, Spice Money; Shri Akash Sinha, CEO & Co-founder, Cashfree payments; Shri Sabyasachi Goswami; C0-Chairperson, ASSOCHAM national Council on Banking; Shri Sarbvir Singh, CEO, PolicyBazaar.com; Shri K V Dipu, Senior President, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance; Shri Subhrajit Mukhopadhyay, Executive Director, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance; Shri Indraneel Chatterjee Co-Founder, RenewBuy.
The ‘India International Fintech Festival – Towards Global Movement Shaping the Future of Fintech’ is being organized by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in association with Ministry of Finance, Government of India from 8th till 10th June 2022 in New Delhi.