(19 October 2007 – India) According to Standard & Poor’s South Asia, the growing consumer finance market in India offers opportunities for Australian financial institutions.Standard & Poor’s South Asia managing director and regional head Ravi Ravimohan, has said that consumer finance and credit were set to grow rapidly as India’s economic boom continued.
He also said that Australian banks were in a good position to transfer their skills in wealth management and consumer finance banking to India.
However, the Indian central bank currently discourages participation by foreign banks and it would be a couple of years until full deregulation, he said.
Such restrictions are mainly held for core bank functions, and non-bank services such as wealth management could provide opportunities for Australia banks, he added.
He expected foreign institutions could also get involved in overseas investment by Indian companies.