EuroFinance cash management conference in New Delhi reveals optimism and opportunities.
The EuroFinance 8th Annual conference on Cash, Treasury and Risk Management in India kicked off with an optimistic overview of the Indian economy by noted Indian economist Dr. Bibek Debroy. Dr. Debroy, of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, predicted Indian economic baseline growth for the next several years of 10 percent, even without any major improvements or reforms to infrastructure, power generation, the legal system, or efficiencies in the rural and public (including taxation) sectors.
The major theme of the morning was the impact on cash as a result of a shift in customer base – for example, following an acquisition or change in circumstances or as a result of accessing new market segments such as the usually unbanked segments of more modest means. The push into these areas is in keeping with the Indian notion of “financial inclusion,” a public policy goal. To help these market segments access asset financing (for example, for scooters or commercial vehicles), non-banking finance companies in the private sector fill a gap in the market between banks and the informal money-lenders, in a regulated as well as affordable manner. This is also happening in rural China, where, according to The Wall Street Journal, a growing number of foreign banks are “realizing that longer-term success in the country of mega opportunities means they must support China’s banking development, however micro.”
Driving tech
In India, there are huge opportunities to improve efficiencies through a move from manual, paper-intensive processes to electronic management of documents, payments and transactions. The afternoon sessions were dedicated to four corporate case studies of enhanced working capital, payments and collections processes, supported by the bank that provided the solutions: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas and RBS, respectively (mirroring, of course, the major sponsors of the event).
Overall, the mood at the conference is positive and future-oriented, reflecting the swift return to focusing on growth after a barely perceptible blip in the level of confidence in the Indian economy after the credit crisis hit.