Economy is likely to take a positive turn over the next few months, even as slowdown, election-led uncertainties and tightened regulatory framework affected growth and profits, said Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in a survey done by Deloitte India.
“The continuing economic uncertainty together with the upcoming elections and current regulatory regimes bringing in increased scrutiny by the government are creating challenges in managing stakeholders perceptions and sustaining growth and profitability,” the Deloitte India survey said.
However, more than half of the respondents believe the economy is likely to take a positive turn over the next few months, thus reflecting an optimistic outlook regarding the future state of economy, beyond the one-year horizon, compared to 44 per cent recorded in 2013.
As per the survey, more than half of the respondents viewed slowdown as one of the key concerns followed by depreciation of the rupee (47 per cent), inflation (38 per cent) and government attitude and ability to bring about economic reforms (37 per cent).
“CFOs (also) perceive the government’s inability to bring about economic reforms at desired levels and the increased scrutiny by the government for regulatory compliance as some of the other critical challenges,” said Sanjoy Sen, senior director, Deloitte India.
Slowdown in the domestic economy and high inflation are recognised as the top macro-economic challenges across all verticals.
Despite many risks and challenges, chief financial officers are designing strategies to steer through the turbulent times by focusing on revenue growth, value preservation and cost containment while taking steps to enhance operational scalability, Sen pointed out.
It also revealed, CFOs continue to expand beyond the traditional financial domain of being an operator or steward to more strategic and catalyst aspects.