V-shaped recovery unlikely in India as Covid cases rise: StanChart chief

Global banking major Standard Chartered's Group Chief Executive Bill Winters on Wednesday said he was not sure whether India will see a V-shaped economic recovery as the number of Covid-19 infections are continuing to rise.

He said India is "some place in between", wherein it is not showing the V-shaped recovery like China.

India's economy contracted by nearly a fourth in the June quarter as a result of the lockdowns during the early days of the pandemic. Policymakers had exuded confidence about a V-shaped recovery.

"I don't know (whether) we will see a V-shaped recovery given the fact that the infections are still spreading quite rapidly," Winters said.

Speaking at the Global Business Summit, he said Indian efforts to contain the virus spread have been "moderately successful" and termed the same as a tremendous challenge.

He, however, said that there is a determination to get things back on track and resume normal commercial activity and advocated against imposing more lockdowns calling it as not practical.

Aspects like low mortality are very encouraging, Winters said, hinting that the same can be attributed to the young population and also the advances made by medicine.

He also welcomed the efforts taken by the government, terming them as a "firm" resolve.

The bank's clients in India are saying that it has been very tough but are confident of coming out of the difficulties, Winters said, adding that he is hopeful of India recovering.

From a credit losses perspective, it is too early to assess the situation in India, he said, hoping that the credit provisions made earlier will be helpful to take care of the challenges.

He also said the bank is now in a position to spread out on its consumer lending book in the country on the back of digital solutions developed at its lab in Bengaluru.