Rating agency Fitch on Tuesday termed Reserve Bank of India's directive to banks to prepare a roadmap for implementing Basel II capital accord as appropriate to improve financial health and withstand competition.

The Monetary and Credit Policy 2004-2005

Welcoming the series of steps announced by RBI in its bi-annual policy for 2004-05, Fitch in a statement said the new capital accord was to be finalised by end June 2004.

RBI has asked Indian banks to prepare their internal roadmaps for migration to Basel II. This was expected to be submitted to the central bank by December 2004 and would then be reviewed quarterly.

Fitch said it had recently expressed a need for Indian banks to strengthen their risk management systems to manage the growth in consumer credit.