Financial advisors
Apropos ‘Large gains in financial space need to be pared’ (March 18), the suggestion of mandatory financial consultation as an “out of the box” solution to the retail investor woes isn’t convincing. Taking financial advice or foregoing it is an individual’s decision and it must remain so. Adding another layer of monetary barrier to the equity market, in the form of mandatory financial advisors, will not serve the investor class. Rather, it will create only a new class of intermediaries with “large profits”, in addition to wealth managers, financial registrars, etc. Also, this advice makes an unsubstantiated assumption that this “financial advisor” knows better than the average stock market investor. But time and again, this has been proven wrong.
Shineson S
Coimbatore
Sustainable farming
This refers to ‘India’s agriculture on the brink of sustainability crisis due to vulnerabilities’ (March 19). While soil health is being cited as a major factor for long term sustainability in farm produce, migration of agricultural labourers due to changing socio-economic patterns also play a vital role impacting the pre- and post-cultivation process. While a few States have adopted crop diversification and agricultural infrastructure to improve and maintain the standard and quality of agricultural production, other States need to introspect and replicate the same. States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha that have long coastlines face rising water salinity and major threats to groundwater quality. These States need to invest more on infra to have sustained agricultural activities.
RV Baskaran
Chennai
Managing the dollar
In a string of unconnected and quick-fire actions, Trump clearly masks critical objectives. Besides fashioning fiscal policy to support US domestic manufacturing, he is attempting to reset rules of the international monetary order as well. Given the huge debt burden of the US, the dollar must steadily weaken. Thus Trump needs to ensure that the dollar can sustain trade at a weaker value compared with other currencies and yet enjoy its global dominance, particularly in regard to US government securities — one reason why he threatens sanctions and tariff imposition on nations that seek to trade in non-dollar terms.
R Narayanan
Navi Mumbai
Written-off loans
This refers to the statement by the Ministry of Finance on the recovery from written-off loans, which was reported to have improved. However, what remained undisclosed was the extent of the haircuts applied in these cases. The Bank Employees Federation of India estimates the haircut amount to be around ₹8 lakh crore, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code process. Typically, when these loans are sold to Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), the transaction follows a 15:85 ratio, with SPVs paying 15 per cent in cash and the remaining 85 per cent in the form of debt receivables. The actual realisation from the 85 per cent portion heavily depends on the SPVs’ recovery efforts.
Srinivasan Velamur
Chennai