Sundaram Finance Managing Director Rajiv Lochan says that he expects the new government would focus on economic growth, continuity in infrastructure policy, containing inflation and creating jobs.
Continuity in policy, a favourable monsoon, and a vibrant festive season are expected to bring back consumer demand and momentum during the second half of the current fiscal, said Sundaram Finance Ltd. (SFL) Managing Director Rajiv Lochan.
“The government is continuing, so there will be continuity in most of the policy agenda,” he said during an interaction.
On macro and economic front, Mr. Lochan said the new government was expected to focus on economic growth, ensuring continuity in infrastructure policy, besides containing inflation and creating jobs.
He hoped that driving up consumption, improving exports and bringing back private sector capital investments would remain priorities.
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On the medium to long-term prospects, he said, “Our primary objective is getting to a market share in the geographies that we operate in. If the market moves up by 10% in a particular asset class, we want 10% of that growth. If the market plateaus, we still want to hold the same 10%. So, we let the market growth determine our overall growth.”
“Our focus has been on market share which we think is much more controllable than going after a particular growth. This has been the long-standing philosophy for many years and we are just continuing that,” he said.
During FY24, SFL recorded standalone net profit rose 23% to ₹1,334 crore, excluding exceptional item. Disbursements grew 25% to ₹26,163 crore. Assets Under Management increased by 27% to ₹43,987 crore.
Gross non-performing asset declined by 40 bps to 1.26%, while net NPA fell 23 bps to 0.63%. SFL reported capital adequacy ratio of 20.5%.
Talking about the growth, Mr. Lochan said, “In the M&HCV segment, we are on our way back from the pre-COVID phase and are still a bit short. We have regained our share, in the retail CV and passenger cars space. In the tractors and construction equipment segment, we have significantly surpassed our share.”
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“We are a long-term sort of marathon runners that set a steady pace and it will continue. We will try and balance growth with quality and profitability. That agenda will continue,” he said.
You’ve done everything right, and you’re still losing ground. That’s the sentiment many are feeling, as rising inflation takes bigger bites out of your paychecks when you pump gas, pay your electric bill or go to the grocery store.
It used to be that you could turn to a high-yield savings account to outpace it. Yet, with inflation at 4.20% and not likely to cool soon, most savings accounts don’t earn returns keeping pace with inflation.
“It’s not just about earning interest,” says Eric Bernstein, President of LendFriend Mortgage. “When your savings are sitting idle, you’re missing out on the compounding power that could strengthen your homebuying profile. For those targeting a purchase, inflation isn’t just an annoyance — it’s a direct reduction in your future purchasing power.”
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Stop letting the status quo erode your wealth. Here are three strategic pivots to shield your cash from inflation and crush your debt for good.
1. Stop chasing yields
For a long time, savings accounts offered exceptional rates of return that outpaced inflation. In the interim, likely, those days are over. The ongoing war with Iran will keep fuel prices high. And even if there is a permanent resolution soon, energy prices might not stabilize fully into 2027.
The problem is that you need a high-yield savings account as part of your financial plan. Instead of shopping around for rates every few months, I’m recommending a savings account I’ve found that consistently offers good returns and has no monthly fees.
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Once you reach your emergency fund and short-term savings goal, you want to shift your focus away from saving.
2. The debt-first pivot
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Debt robs you of future wealth, especially if you’re carrying high-interest debt. Credit cards and HELOCs also feature variable rates that can compound faster than any return you would earn on a savings account.
Therefore, when you view these debts as an emergency, you restore your purchasing power and improve your monthly cash flow.
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Here’s a debt repayment checklist to help you devise a plan that works:
Make a list of all your outstanding debts, including balances owed, interest rates, etc.
Use a budgeting app or a personal banker to see if you can free up any cash in your budget or curtail spending
Use the Debt Avalanche method (focusing on the debt with the highest interest rate) first, or do the Debt Snowball, where you tackle your lowest balance to build momentum
Set up automatic payments to ensure you never miss one
Allocate any surplus cash from bonuses, commissions or tax refunds to pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first
Review goals at least quarterly to ensure you remain on track to pay off debt
Along with debt repayment, now is a vital time to reevaluate how you approach buying everyday items.
Use the tool below, powered by Bankrate, to connect with a financial professional that can help you build a plan to reach your financial goals:
3. Spend with intention
Debt repayment takes center stage, but you must also plug any spending holes you have in your budget. To demonstrate, inflation won’t show up as a line item in your budget, but rising per-unit prices create stealthy paycheck erosion.
I’m going to show you a few ways to rein in spending. First, everything in life seems to revolve around subscriptions, so this is a good place to start. Look for apps or memberships you haven’t used much in the past few months and pause them. If you can go a few months without them, then you won’t need them back.
And if you want to save on streaming moving forward, do this:
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Use your credit card and cell phone plan perks to lower total streaming costs
Buy annual plans around Black Friday, where deals are usually the best
Use shopping subscriptions like Walmart+, which offers a free membership to Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essentials plan, you can switch options every 90 days
The next area is mastering the art of grocery shopping. Instead of impulse buying, plan meals. Shop ethnic markets for produce, as they tend to be cheaper and offer better quality than most grocery stores, in my experience.
Use warehouse clubs for pantry bulk supplies, where per-unit prices are often lower than at your regular markets.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Another tip seems simple, yet it’s effective. Kiplinger personal finance writer Rachael Green reached out to her service providers to ask if they could lower her bills. She saved over $700 annually, so it definitely pays to reach out.
Lastly, if you find something you want to buy that isn’t essential, implement the 24-hour rule. I do this often and find that after sleeping on it, I don’t really need the item. This can help you rein in impulse spending, giving you more money to devote to debt repayment.
Ultimately, inflation can erode some of your purchasing power, but you can control its impact. The key is to move away from an all-savings strategy and implement other solutions impacting your finances.
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Attacking high-interest debt with urgency and treating every dollar you earn with intention helps you not only save money but also buy back your financial freedom. These small shifts can help you weather the storm of higher prices so you can reclaim the ground inflation tried to steal.
Hong Kong is pressing ahead with an overhaul of listing rules and the launch of new product initiatives, the city’s deputy finance chief said on Friday as the bourse operator marked 26 years as a publicly traded company.
Speaking at the anniversary ceremony of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun outlined reforms under review, including optimising weighted voting rights, easing secondary listings by overseas issuers, and expanding flexibility for biotech and specialist technology companies.
“We will continue to work tirelessly and proactively to make Hong Kong even better and stronger as a leading international financial centre,” Wong said.
The consultation period closed last month, and HKEX was now reviewing feedback before finalising the measures, he added.
Wong also welcomed the forthcoming launch of five-year mainland Chinese government bond futures, saying the contract would provide efficient risk-management tools and reinforce Hong Kong’s role as the world’s leading offshore renminbi hub.
He said Hong Kong was building a commodities ecosystem, using gold as a strategic entry point, with plans for expanded storage and refinery capacity and the reactivation of a US dollar gold futures contract.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks about his proposed budget on May 5, 2026.
One of the “Big Three” credit ratings agencies improved its outlook on the city of Houston’s financial position on Thursday, two weeks after city officials approved major reforms to the city’s revenue flow.
In a news release announcing the “stable” outlook, the agency said the city “made substantial progress in materially reducing its budget gap … through various structural changes.”
S&P Global lowered the city’s outlook in 2024 amid rising public safety costs tied to the more than $1 billion blockbuster settlement with the firefighters’ union, which included immediate backpay and hiked salaries by more than 30% over the five-year agreement. The “negative” outlook signaled the possibility of a credit downgrade, which would raise the city’s borrowing costs.
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This year, Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s administration redirected about $100 million in revenue from the city’s water and wastewater utility to the $3 billion general fund, which supports most departments including police and fire. At the same time, the administration moved the more than $100 million solid waste department out of the general fund and into the utility while adopting a $5 monthly fee for garbage customers.
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Altogether, the changes essentially erased the projected deficit for this fiscal year, which runs through June 2027.
Steven David, Whitmire’s chief operations officer, said the improved outlook is “just a validation of the work that Mayor Whitmire has been doing for the past two-and-a-half years.”
“If fiscal stability is a house, we’ve laid the foundation with this fiscal year, and it’s good to see that S&P is recognizing that,” he said.
S&P’s statement included a note of caution. The city’s budget deficit has routinely ballooned beyond what was planned.
In 2026, the administration expected a gap between revenue and spending of about $70 million. The actual deficit exceeded $170 million, although the city’s critical fund balance remained on target.
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“If these deviations from the city’s budget continue, it could weaken our view of the city’s budgetary practices and overall reserves, aligning them more closely with those of lower-rated peers,” the agency said.
City Controller Chris Hollins — Houston’s elected financial official and a vocal critic of Whitmire’s financial policies — said the warnings “show we’re not out of the woods.”
The other “Big Three” credit ratings agencies have not yet announced changes. Fitch maintained a negative outlook, first assigned in 2024, while Moody’s outlook remained stable.
