Global risk aversion and asset sell-offs have put emerging markets like India in a fix. Economies the world over are facing different sets of challenges. Gerard Lyons, chief economist and global head of research at Standard Chartered, tells Malini Bhupta what's in store for markets and economies in the current climate of uncertainty.

Q&A: Gerard Lyons, Chief Economist, Standard Chartered 

Business Standard

Fitch Ratings India Managing Director and CEO Atul Joshi says fiscal deficit will grow to 5.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this financial year if disinvestment proceeds are not included and if they are, it would grow to 5.1 per cent from 4.7 per cent during 2010-11. He, however, expects the economy to grow at 7.7 per cent against 8.5 per cent last year.

Q&A: Atul Joshi, MD & CEO, Fitch Ratings India

Kumaresh Ramakrishnan, head, fixed income, DWS Investments, spoke to Puneet Wadhwa on India&rsquo;s financial markets.

Q&A: Kumaresh Ramakrishnan, DWS Investments

V Anantharaman took charge as the regional co-head of Standard Chartered Bank's wholesale banking business in South Asia in January. Currently, the share of wholesale banking in the bank's total income from India is estimated at 75 per cent. In an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty, Anantharaman shares the bank's strategy to increase this business in a challenging macro-economic environment.

Q&A: V Anantharaman, Standard Chartered Bank

Romesh Sobti was re-appointed chief executive of IndusInd Bank for three years in February. In an interview with Parnika Sokhi and Somasroy Chakraborty, he shares its growth plans.

Q&A: Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank

Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group has re-entered Indian banking space after a decade, opening its first branch in Mumbai last month. In an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty and Abhijit Lele, the India chief executive, Subhas DeGamia, shares its plans here.

Q&A: Subhas DeGamia, CEO, ANZ India,

Real estate projects have expanded much faster than credit supply, says National Housing Bank Chairman and Managing Director R V Verma. In an interview with Nivedita Mookerji and Dilasha Seth, he says builders have seen a degree of credit constraint the lending institutions.

Q&A: R V Verma, National Housing Bank 

Marsh India, the first foreign broker and risk advisor to secure the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority's (Irda) licence for broking general insurance and reinsurance, plans to increase its business by 25-30 per cent yearly over the next five years.

Q&A: Sanjay Kedia, Marsh India

In the last four-five years, the gold loan market has been transformed. In an interview with Dilip Kumar Jha, I Unnikrishnan, Managing Director, Manappuram Finance, says from customers pledging jewellery as a last resort for funds, there is now extensive interest in the sector.

Q&A: I Unnikrishnan, MD, Manappuram Finance

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has decided to exit its retail and commercial banking operations in India by selling these businesses to Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). In an interview with Malvika Joshi and Somasroy Chakraborty, Madan Menon, the bank&rsquo;s chief executive for Singapore and Southeast Asia and head of global banking and markets in India, shares the bank&rsquo;s future plans.

Q&A: Madan Menon, RBS

Amidst fears that rising rates are leading to a slowdown of the Indian economy, Leif Eskesen, chief economist for India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), says more rate rises are inevitable, since inflation continues to stay stubbornly high. In an interview with Parnika Sokhi and Somasroy Chakraborty, Eskesen shares his outlook on fiscal and monetary policies in India.

Q&A: Leif Eskesen, Chief Economist, HSBC

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn says while bank non-performing assets will rise, there is no systemic risk. Here are excerpts from an interview with Manojit Saha.

Q&A: Subir Gokarn, RBI Deputy Governor

Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank Ltd, the second biggest lender, expects loans to grow 16 per cent in the year to March and sees lending rates rising during the year. The bank expects greater demand for loans from housing, cars, projects and working capital.

Q&A: Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank

In the cross-border acquisitions Indian companies have made this year, Swiss investment bank UBS has been generally advising the sellers. Manisha Girotra, UBS India&rsquo;s managing director and country head, notes they&rsquo;ve also advised Reliance Industries in its two latest US energy acquisitions. In an interview with Abhineet Kumar, she talks about the changed mindset of Indian promoters, and the impact of the new takeover code rules.

Q&A: Manisha Girotra, MD, UBS India

The Indian government will help local companies raise funds in overseas markets by setting a benchmark.

Q&A: William Streeter, Managing Director, Fitch Ratings

Prahlad Shantigram of Standard Chartered Bank is the only global mergers and acquisitions head who works out of Mumbai. And, has been the man behind most headline deals involving India Inc. His team was the only financial advisor involved in the $11-billion mega merger between GTL Infra and Reliance Infratel. He spoke to Abhineet Kumar &amp; Arijit Barman on telecom, towers and other sectors.

Q&A: Prahlad Shantigram, Global Head, M&A, StanChart

After having booked a profit of nearly Rs 10,000 crore from the equity market, the biggest domestic institutional investor, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), expects to invest Rs 2 lakh crore in equities and debt this year. In an interview with Shilpy Sinha, LIC&rsquo;s managing director Thomas Mathew T says that the corporation expects to make similar profits this year.

Q&A: Thomas Mathew T, MD, LIC

Global private-equity (PE) firms have hardly been able to do buy-out deals in India. However, the new takeover code guidelines offer larger opportunity for investment in India, as it increases the threshold for open offers to 25 per cent from 15 per cent. Rajeeve Gupta, managing director and head of the India Buy-out team at Carlyle Group, talks about the challenges of buy-out deals and the opportunity that the new takeover code would offer.

Q&A: Rajeeve Gupta, MD, Carlyle Group

Raja Kumar is the founder and CEO of Bangalore based Ascent Capital Advisors which manages $600 million worth of funds. He is one of the early leaders of the Indian private equity industry and recently raised a $350 million India focussed PE fund in a tough global environment. Prior to this embarking on the PE business, he served as a senior officer at SEBI. He is among the rare class of civil servants who have ventured successfully into the exciting capital markets domain.

Q&A: Raja Kumar, CEO, Ascent Capital

Home-grown investment bank Ambit has been one of the most active advisors for mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) involving mid- and small-size companies. In an interview with Abhineet Kumar, Chief Executive Officer Ashok Wadhwa says the proposed changes in the takeover code suit multinational companies (MNCs) with deep pockets. He also sees banks merging with non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) once the central bank decides to give new banking licences.

Q&A: Ashok Wadhwa, Group CEO, Ambit

India replaced Hong Kong as the biggest contributor to Standard Chartered&rsquo;s global profits in the first half of 2010. Jaspal Bindra, chief executive officer for Asia, who joined the bank&rsquo;s global board on January 1, tells Sumit Sharma that India, along with China, remains a dominant and promising growth story.

Page 39 - Interviews