BS BFSI Insight Summit: India's biggest BFSI Summit to kick off on Dec 21

The country's biggest BFSI Summit will feature some of the most prominent voices in India's economic landscape, including RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, Deputy Governors, and SBI chairman

Following two years of pandemic-related restrictions, the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit is set to go live again.

The country’s biggest BFSI Summit will feature some of the most prominent voices in India’s economic landscape, including Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, Deputy Governors T Rabi Sankar and M Rajeshwar Rao, and Dinesh Khara, the chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender.
 

In a fireside chat, Governor Das will share his views on the key aspects of the Indian economy and the financial sector. His views will be important at a time when the Indian economy is adjusting to an extremely volatile geopolitical environment, even as the pandemic continues to cause some disruptions in overseas markets.
 

While the domestic economy is faced with challenges from a prolonged war in Europe and the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary tightening, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is still poised to be among the fastest for major economies.
 

The Indian rupee has seen volatility amid the US rate increases, but the RBI has succeeded in reducing the turbulence in the exchange rate by deploying some of its considerable foreign exchange reserves. The rupee has, consequently, depreciated to a smaller extent than several other currencies versus the US dollar.
 

Domestic inflation, while still elevated, fell below 6 per cent in November — this was the first time in 2022 that the inflation gauge was within the RBI’s 2-6 per cent tolerance band.
 

The RBI has raised interest rates by a cumulative 225 basis points in 2022 in order to bring down inflation. Banks have increased deposit rates, resulting in a better investment environment for savers, while lending rates have also increased, weighing on consumption to some extent.
 

While fighting inflation, the central bank has, however, made it clear that it is ready to support economic growth. Liquidity in the banking system remains at a large surplus, ensuring that borrowing costs in the economy do not become prohibitively high and growth does not suffer.
 

The RBI expects 6.8 per cent GDP growth in the current financial year, a faster pace of growth than most other economies.

Deputy Governors Sankar and Rao will also lend valuable insights into various facets of India’s banking system. Over the past couple of years, there have been several key developments in the banking sector, the most prominent being the rapid emergence of digital lending.
 

The RBI has made it clear that while it wishes to foster innovation in banking, all participants must adhere to the regulatory architecture in order to safeguard public interest.
 

Within the traditional banking fold, over the two-day summit, we will hear the views of the leaders of some of the most prominent lenders from both public and private sectors — SBI, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, UCO Bank, Axis Bank, HSBC, Citi India, IDBI Bank and IDFC First Bank.
 

The banking system has shown resilience amid global uncertainties, with bad loan ratios declining and lenders being on a much stronger footing on the capital adequacy front. Profits have risen sharply in FY23 so far, as lending rates have risen in tandem with the RBI’s rate increases.
 

The insurance industry and India’s stock markets have also shown resilience, despite the impact of the pandemic. Rakesh Joshi, member (finance & investment) at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), and Ashwani Bhatia, whole-time Sebi member, will speak on the key issues influencing the insurance industry and capital markets, respectively.
 

The two-day event will also see chief executives of India’s leading insurance companies and mutual fund houses speak on key issues impacting their businesses, while chief investment officers at fund houses will delve into factors driving bond and share markets.
 

With Unified Payments Interface (UPI) having emerged as one of the most commonplace methods of payment in the past few years, the disruptive growth of digital payment systems — perhaps at the cost of banks — has become a major point of discussion. The RBI has also recently launched pilot projects for its own digital currency, while repeatedly flagging risks from private cryptocurrencies.
 

Panellists including the chairman of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the head of the Payments Council of India will speak on developments in the digital and payments space and the search for a business model.
 

The non-banking financial companies (NBFC) sector is one that has been through much upheaval in the past few years. Events like the collapse of IL&FS in 2018 and the challenges to asset quality that emerged because of the pandemic have reshaped the environment for NBFCs. Given the key role that these companies play in financing smaller enterprises, the health of the sector is essential for economic growth.
 

Top officials from prominent players in the NBFC space, such as HDFC, Mahindra Financial Services, Shriram Transport Finance, Tata Capital and Aditya Birla Finance, will speak on the road ahead for non-bank lenders and whether it is still a dream for them to transition to traditional banks.
 

With the Federal Reserve showing unwavering commitment to slowing down growth in the US in order to bring down inflation, the theme for economists around the world is how deep a global recession might be.
 

India’s growth is seen slowing down, but to a far smaller extent than advanced economies – the International Monetary Fund has estimated global growth at 3.2 per cent in 2022. The RBI has repeatedly emphasised the resilience of the domestic economic recovery, pointing to firm growth in many high-frequency indicators.
 

We will be joined at the summit by economists from SBI, Citibank, IndusInd Bank, ICRA and the NCAER who will discuss where India’s growth prospects stand and whether we have finally managed to decouple from the advanced economies.