Comments
Imbalance in India's balance sheet has been continuing since 1950-51, opined an expert at a panel discussion here.
Participating in a panel discussion on ‘India's Balance Sheet,' organised by the Mangalore branch of ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India), Mr G. Giridhar Prabhu, Trustee of the Mangalore-based Economic Research Centre, said India's balance sheet has been hardly studied and commented upon.
Cumulative deficits
Explaining the effects of cumulative deficits since 1950-51, he said the country has liabilities of Rs 50.25 lakh crore and assets of Rs 21.19 lakh crore. He said debt servicing amounts to 34 per cent of country's Budget.
Stressing the need for balanced budgets in future, he said the bias should be more towards current capital in them. They should focus on introduction and generation of capital.
Comparing India's interest rate structure with other countries, Mr Prabhu said the rate ranges between 9 per cent and 14 per cent in India. The average interest rate structure in the world is 0.25 per cent. So there is a need for bringing down interest rates significantly, he said.
Fiscal deficit in the country can be reduced to nil, provided it initiates some measures in this regard, he added.
Mr Jayant Gokhale from the Committee on Economic Commercial Laws and WTO of ICAI, said accountants need to understand country's balance sheet in detail. Stating that the role of accountants is changing, he said their role as advisors is gaining prominence.
IMF study
Quoting an IMF study, Prof G.V. Joshi from the Justice K.S. Hegde Institute of Management, said the country's fiscal deficit will be more than 10 per cent, if it takes fiscal deficits of Centre, states and some of the major public sector undertakings.
Mr Feroze Andhyarujina, senior advocate, Supreme Court of India, said India's balance sheet has good amount of intangible assets in the form of knowledge capital.
Mr Murali Mohan, Chairman of Mangalore branch of ICAI, moderated the panel discussion.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.