SBI's Arijit Basu: FM Sitharaman's announcements show the govt is serious, listens to stakeholders

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a series of measures on August 23 in a bid to stimulate the economic slowdown in the country. Removal of surcharge on foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and infusing Rs 70,000 crore in public sector banks (PSBs) with immediate effect were some of the prominent moves announced by the government.

Arijit Basu, managing director of the State Bank of India (SBI), gave his take on the finance minister's measures in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“There were a series of discussions which the government had across industry whether it is banking industry and everyone gives suggestions. So I think decisions that were announced on Friday are indeed very important because it has been taken positively by everyone,” he said.

“The impression that the decisions have conveyed is that the government is serious, it wants to understand what are the views of the players in the industry and wants to positively respond to it and they have done it in a way,” he added.

“First half of the year is always what we call the slack season and I think it got exacerbated by some of the slowdown. With the festive season coming up, I think it is a very timely moment in which the government has announced the measures,” said Basu.

“For SBIs, we are not looking at any capitalisation right now because we are well capitalised and we have been able to raise from the market. I think these are for the banks which may not be able to access the market immediately. I would not think that this may be for SBI. Having said that, I would not know whether the communication has already gone to the banks,” he added.