Budget 2024: Focus Clearly On Maintaining Fiscal Discipline, Says SBI Chairman

Budget 2024 is essentially aiming to support the economy on a sustainable basis and leading to become a developed economy at the earliest, said Dinesh Khara, chairperson of State Bank of India.

"The focus for this budget is very clear in maintaining the fiscal discipline. It is also ensuring that the continuity of the policies that have been pursued in the past, in terms of focus on infrastructure, focus on new initiatives like solar, that the economy moves towards green, will ensure that the commitment towards the global targets are also achieved," Khara told NDTV Profit in an exclusive interview.

Likewise, there is a clear focus on housing for both rural and middle class, according to him.

This budget has to be seen in the context of the next two GDP ratios, which has already started improving, the chairman said. "I think these are very encouraging trends, which are being captured by this budget."

He expects interest rates to fall in the third quarter.

Ensuring the country's credibility in the eyes of various global rating agencies and inclusion of debt paper in the global bond index announced by JPMorgan "is also a reflection of India's cultivating indices in the eyes of some of the leading players across the globe", he said. "So, I think these are some of the positives that will help us to attract the global capital."

Khara doesn't expect a change in stance in the upcoming RBI policy. "The tone of the next policy will remain the same, and the liquidity would be the deciding factor for the rate cut by the RBI."