CFOs work out strategies to survive during lean period

Chennai:

As the growth of Indian economy is projected to slowdown to five per cent this financial year, chief financial officers of various corporate houses are focusing on strategies to sustain the phase.

During a function organized by Dun and Bradstreet in association with Microsoft Dynamics here on Tuesday, financial experts said following the national growth rate projected to be around five per cent, the budget of corporate during the financial year is likely to shrink.

Punish Mishra, director management consulting KPMG said that now CFOs will be asked to do more with less funds. He, however, said the negative growth will not have any major impact on corporate policy decisions as the economic outlook remains optimistic.

G Kalyan Ram, vice-president and region head, treasury sales, South India HSBC, hailed the budget while cautioning that whatever announcements made by Finance Minister P Chidambaram should be implemented.

As the elections to Lok Sabha is getting nearer, there is also a fear among the corporates that the government, in a bid to woo the electorate, will abandon the fiscal reforms.

Ram said that the foreign exchange reserves of the nation depleted as the Reserve Bank of India was selling dollars to stabilize the rupee. However, he said with foreign institutional investors coming to India there is no need to get concerned. He also said that current account deficit should not be taken as barometer of Indian economic health.