Multiple reasons accounted for the losses, including manpower crunch and lack of clarity on the merger of National, United and Oriental, reports Namrata Acharya.
A key hindrance to a faster turnaround of these banks is the slow progress in the resolution of legacy bad loans and the need to build up provisions against those assets.
'The effect will be seen two-three quarters down the line.'
Although the RBI's open market operations have ensured sufficient system-level liquidity, some sectors are finding liquidity to be a challenge owing to their credit profile.
The circular says even a day's delay in servicing loans would be now taken as a 'default'. And once in default, for loans above Rs 2,000 crore, the banks will have to arrive at a resolution within 180 days, else lenders will have to file an application under the IBC within 15 days.
The continued rise in interest is a pressure on fiscal, but it is not an easy way out unless the government cuts back on populist measures and sticks to fiscal prudence as laid out in the FRBM, which the government missed for the second consecutive year.
'There is merit in keeping the central bank's balance sheet strong if the government's fiscal balance sheet is weak.'
The PNB fiasco falls into a family line that involves non-fund limits - read contingent liabilities which are off-books. Harshad Mehta did it with bankers' receipts in 1992. Ketan Parekh exploited the ignorance of bankers who did not know the difference between a cheque and a pay-order. And the RBI blinked when it failed to insist the SWIFT platform be linked to the core banking solution. Raghu Mohan & Abhijit Lele trace the banking mess that was just waiting to happen.
The culture of these firms is alien to the Indian financial system. Distressed assets funds are known for their ruthless recovery ethics. Slicing and dicing a company and selling it on a piecemeal basis is their usual practice. This is something Indian banks are finding a little uncomfortable.
Bankruptcy proceedings are going at a slower pace than what the bankers had envisaged and many cases have gone beyond the 270-day timeline set under the IBC mainly because of litigation.
During the fourth quarter (January-March), banks step up the activity to meet annual targets. This leads to a race to raise funds from markets often by jacking up deposit rates. This time around, the market has not seen such trend yet.
The airline has struggled to pay salaries and vendors on time and its Rs 10,963 crore fund and non fund based facilities have now been assigned 'D' rating by ICRA - the seventh rating downgrade since March 2017.
The two entities' combined distribution network would comprise 4,182 banking outlets and 476 ATMs across 34 states and Union territories of India, with more than 31,000 employees serving about 15 million customers across the country.
Kolkata tops the list with 617 cancellations, New Delhi stands second with 203, followed by Mumbai at 190.
Options include fresh capital infusion by the management and/or some new investors.
Over the past several months, the airline has struggled to pay vendors and staff salaries on time.
Sidbi acquires Ahmedabad-based start-up at hefty premium; founders deny link to govt.
RBI says haste in easing norms for banks harmful to economy.
Among the states due for election next year are AP, Haryana and Odisha, which have a fair share of agri credit. If these states individually announced debt relief, the combined waiver would be at least around Rs 600 bn to Rs 700 bn. Clearly, this will be a frightening challenge for Indian banks.
If the new governor can think out of the box even as he signals that he can bat for the RBI cadre and respect its institutional memory, that will go a long way in getting out of the current impasse.
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