Hyderabad: Stressing the need for fiscal discipline, be it for development of a state or a business house, finance minister T. Harish Rao on Thursday said that his perception and role had changed after he took over his new job.
While addressing the second edition of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Telangana’s CFO Conclave, he described himself as the Chief Financial Officer of the state and said that plugging wastage is nothing but creating wealth to that extent. The theme of the conference was “Evolve – The New Age CFOs’.
Speaking on the subject that the CFO is the organisation builder, strategist and cultural trendsetter,’ Mr Harish Rao highlighted the need for CFOs to work for the development of the firm rather than trying to appease the management. He said, “the onus of steering the company in the right direction is on the CFO. For this, one may have to take harsh decisions.”
Recalling his earlier stint as irrigation minister, he said that he had urge to spend on construction of irrigation projects but his perception changed along with the portfolio since, as a finance minister and now he has to think twice before spending the state finances. “In the backdrop of the downtrend in the economy and also the falling GDP growth rates, we as financial officers must find new resources and also optimize spending,” Mr Rao said.
Appreciating the steps initiated by the Centre to encourage investments, he expressed concern over the lack of demand for goods which was resulting in industrial distress.
He felt that the prevailing conditions are discouraging new companies from investing in the country and purchasing power needs to be increased to spur demand.
