GTB moratorium lifted

The 800,000-odd depositors in the Global Trust Bank can heave a sigh of relief with the Reserve Bank of India deciding to lift the moratorium on the bank from Saturday.

All 103 GTB branches would function as branches of Oriental Bank of Commerce, a Reserve Bank of India statement said. This followed the government's approval of the scheme for amalgamation of GTB with OBC.

The Global Trust Bank Crisis: Complete Coverage

Customers, including depositors of GTB, would be able to operate

their accounts as customers of OBC, which was making arrangements to ensure normal service, the statement said.

As per the amalgamation scheme, shareholders would receive pro-rata payment if any surplus remained after meeting all the GTB liabilities, the RBI said.

The RBI had initially announced a three-month moratorium effective till September. In special cases, depositors could withdraw up to Rs 100,000 from GTB subject to approval by the RBI.

B D Narang, chairman and managing director, OBC, had indicated that the bank was working out a package to safeguard the interests of customers.