ICICI Bank 2013 Annual Report Download - page 5

In summary, the Indian economy continues to have
the potential for sustained high growth. There has
been positive movement in some areas, with the fiscal
deficit being contained and inflation moderating,
though the current account deficit continues to be
high. Creating the right policy framework for capital
formation and further easing of interest rates would
be the immediate priorities, even as long-term
policy initiatives are taken to enhance economic
efficiency. With these enablers in place, the natural
entrepreneurial mindset and aspirational energy
of the country will move us quickly back to a high
growth path.
Even as we in India focus on addressing the domestic
issues at hand, we must not lose sight of the
transformational changes taking place globally and
the opportunities they create for us. These changes
are being driven by technology, which has already
in just the last decade changed the way we live and
work. The increasing computing power and dropping
costs of mobile devices, and expanding access to
affordable bandwidth, means that an ever-growing
number of people have in their hands a device with
great functionality that they can use to access and
share information as well as transact business. And
this is not a one-way street – each person is becoming
an information node that feeds into a global data
pool. Increasingly sophisticated techniques are being
developed to mine this data pool for a diverse range
of applications – designing products & services,
increasing sales, improving the quality of education,
preventing disease, protecting the environment,
enhancing economic empowerment, solving
unanswered scientific questions – the list is long.
India already has the fifth largest smartphone user
base globally, mobile internet access has overtaken
desktop access in terms of share of traffic and the
number of mobile internet users is almost doubling
every year. These trends, coupled with dropping costs
and the rollout of Aadhaar, offer the opportunity for
new paradigms in business, education, healthcare
and other areas.
The ICICI Group under its able executive management
team is focused on strengthening its franchise,
capitalising on new opportunities and investing in
growth while exercising prudence where required
in the context of challenges in the environment. I
believe this strategic approach will drive continued
strong performance in the years ahead.
With best wishes,
K.V. Kamath
Annual Report 2012-2013 3