“India is lucky to have finally got a pause in rising interest rate cycle”: HDFC chairman

New Delhi [India], April 8 (ANI): HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh on Saturday said India is lucky to have finally got a pause in the rising interest rate cycle.
During the silver jubilee celebration of SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) of its management programme for the next generation of family enterprises, the top banker said one of the critical global issues before much of the Western world has been the sudden change from years of quantitative easing and negative interest rates to a sharp rise in interest rates to combat inflation. Parekh said, “In India, based on yesterday’s announcement, we are lucky to have finally got a pause in the rising interest rate cycle.”

The other issue, Parekh said, was, “immense distrust amongst countries at a time when we most need global co-operation to solve common pressing issues like global supply chains, global warming, cyber threats, money-laundering, data privacy, responsible use of artificial intelligence amongst several others.”
He said India is not immune to these global shocks, but has proved to be more resilient than many large economies.
He said India’s GDP growth, for sure, will slow down because of global headwinds. “But India has enough of tailwinds with political stability, vaccine security, food security, a robust domestic consumption-based economy,” he said, adding, “we have leap-frogged on digitalisation initiatives and the regulatory system for the financial sector is robust.”

As for start-ups, he said many investors still have plenty of dry powder for good, innovative ideas, but the days of cash burn and high valuations are behind us. Parekh added, “Entrepreneurship in India has exploded because of the conducive start-up environment in the country. India has the third largest number of start-ups after US and China. Many say that Indian start-ups are the new-age family businesses in the marketplace.”
Offering advice on family businesses, he said, “While one hopes families stay amicable, the one thing one must desist is families going to court and suing and counter-suing each other”, adding,”Court cases take years, wealth gets depleted and the same problems get passed down through generations.”

“Always opt for an arbitrator — a person mutually trusted and both parties should sign an affidavit that they will abide by the decision of the arbitrator. This I promise will help all sleep well at night,” Parekh said.
Ending on a positive note, he said there can be nothing more exciting than being young in India today and being able to capitalise on opportunities unfolding in entrepreneurship.