SIAM Welcomes FM's Second Set of Announcements for Reviving Growth

The Society of India Automotive Manufactures (SIAM) has come out with an official statement supporting the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's recent announcement on measures for reviving growth of the Indian economy. The Sitharaman on Friday announced certain bold reforms that will help enhance the credit growth in order to put India on the path to becoming a $5 trillion economy. The announcements were mainly focused towards the financial sector and banks with the key agenda being to improve the credit flow.

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The Finance Minister has announced the merger of 10 public sector banks (PBS) into four entities. At the same time the ministry is also working towards ring-fencing the credit system by separating the sanctioning and monitoring of big loans of public sector lenders to avoid the kind frauds pulled off by Nirav Modi on Punjab National Bank. In our current $2.6 trillion Indian economy, credit availability right now stands at $1.9 trillion, or nearly 72 per cent of GDP, and Sitharaman has said that the government is committed to improve this.

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Rajan Wadhera, President, SIAM says, in the long run these announcements will have positive impact on the economy, consumer sentiments

Sharing his views on the decision, Rajan Wadhera, President, SIAM said, "A robust banking system is a necessity for growth of an economy. PSB consolidation, growth-oriented recapitalization and governance reforms are all progressive decisions to strengthen the banking system and give the right impetus to the Indian economy." He also added, "In the long run these announcements will have positive impact on the economy, consumer sentiments and in turn will benefit the Auto Industry."

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The auto sector is currently facing a major slowdown and one of the reasons is weak consumer sentiment and overall demand, which in retrospect is the product of the struggling economy. Previously, the Finance Minister had promised that there will be efforts to reduce interest rates for auto and home loans. Furthermore, Sitharaman also announced early this month that all BS4 vehicles which will be purchased by consumers before April 1, 2020, which is the deadline for BS6 emissions, will be allowed to ply on Indian roads for their complete registration period. Both these measure were also welcomed by the auto industry.