India's economy wasn't hit as hard as anticipated; scope to boost farm employment: veteran banker KV Kamath tells Network18

In an exclusive interview to Network18 group editor-in-chief Rahul Joshi on Tuesday, veteran banker and former chairman of ICICI Bank KV Kamath said that the contraction in the Indian economy may not as much as being anticipated by many.

“The landing will not be as hard as anticipated. Rebound is faster than what most of us thought would be. The economy may see a shallow U-shaped recovery,” said Kamath.

In a silver lining, the veteran banker said that the measures taken by the government have worked well for the economy.

Indicating there is a big scope for enhancing farm employment, he said that agriculture has come back very quickly and rural India has been less affected by the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kamath, who also served as the chairman of Infosys earlier, highlighted that top Indian companies have never been as deleveraged as they are today.

The veteran banker was the founding president of the New Development Bank and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank for 13 years until 2009.

According to a projection by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India’s economy will contract 4.5 percent in FY21.