Countdown to budget 2020 has begun and just 46 days left for finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to present her second budget on the first of February.
The finance minister is holding pre-budget consultations with various industries and stakeholders before she starts preparing for the final document. Stakeholders from the financial sector and capital markets presented their budget wishlist to the finance minister.
The representatives demanded a reduction in goods and services tax levied on term insurance, in order to increase its penetration. They also highlighted the need for governance changes in public sector banks, enhancing credit off-take from banks, risk capital issues, improving functioning and alleviation of stress among NBFCs.
Rajiv Kumar Secretary of Finance said, “There are a number of issues across the financial sector which related to the NBFCs, HFCs, credit, ease of doing KYC, then bond market development, there were a whole lot of issues, we have taken not of it. There were also taxation suggestions.”
Rajnish Kumar Chairman of SBI said, “All the issues from banking, insurance, and mutual fund industry were discussed. Everybody gave suggestions and they will take note of it. There were quite a few suggestions relating to taxation, simplification, improving credit growth, improving the efficiency of the financial markets and how to attract capital in the financial markets. So, a lot of things.”