CFOs optimistic about India’s resilience post-demonetisation: Survey

The survey represents the viewpoint of over 200 CFOs in India.

There is optimism about India’s economic prospects as the country remains buoyant post-demonetisation and amid global uncertainties with the roll-out of the new indirect tax regime, a survey released on Wednesday said.

People wait outside the RBI in New Delhi to submit their demonetised banknotes.(Ravi Choudhary/HT File Photo)

“Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are already on the road to recovery from the recent economic and regulatory disruptions, willing to take investment risks,” Deloitte’s annual CFO Survey for 2017 stated.

“Given macro-economic trends that point to a possible global growth revival, there will be opportunities to increase exports and investment which have been a concern for the past few quarters,” it added.

The survey represents the viewpoint of over 200 CFOs in India.

The respondents include listed and unlisted companies, from both private and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) -- Indian companies, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) headquartered in India, as well as overseas.

Commenting on the impact and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Porus Doctor, Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP said: “The implementation of GST has been a complex change management exercise for every organisation, but it is a much awaited and welcome policy development across industries.”

These regulatory changes along with the upcoming technology upgradation have led the companies to withstand critical transformations in order to stay ahead in the race of unseen competitive threats, he said.

In comparison to 2016 CFO Survey results, the CFOs’ near-term, medium-term and long-term priorities are almost same in terms of profitable growth.

Business partnering and compliance to changing regulatory environment has witnessed a growth of five percentage points and seven percentage points respectively, for the CFOs near-term priority versus last year.

“With the Indian economy adopting GST, companies have shifted their focus to supply chain modification, inventory cost management which might disrupt their working cycles,” the survey said.

“This change could fuel inflation in the economy as the tax burden has risen. However, it is believed that better flow of input credit will negate the impact of higher rates on services,” it noted.