Need to work with 'here and now' philosophy; concepts like deficit should be on hold for now: KV Kamath tells Network18

Stressing upon the need to put concepts like deficit on hold in the present extraordinary circumstances, veteran banker KV Kamath drew attention to the “need to work with ‘here and now’ philosophy” during an exclusive interview to Network18’s Group Editor in Chief Rahul Joshi on Tuesday. “As long as you don’t do something that will permanently tear the fabric of economic growth, I think experiments will have to be done. For the government to do what it has to do, the deficit will have to be played around with,” said Kamath, who was the Founding-President of New Development Bank and was CEO of ICICI Bank for 13 years until 2009. Saying that this will be crucial for economic revival, Kamath also threw a ray of hope by adding that the contraction in the economy may not be much as is being anticipated by various economists and that the recovery might be a U-shaped recovery with a shallow base.