1.8.15

Bank Recapitalisation plan

The government has unveiled a Rs.70,000-crore capitalisation plan for state-run banks over four years as a first-step solution to address the issue of bad loans, which have become a drag on the economy.
The capitalisation plan will begin with a Rs.25,000-crore infusion in the current fiscal year, followed by another Rs.25,000 crore in FY17 and Rs.10,000 crore each over the subsequent two years. the subsequent two years.
“The bank recapitalisation plan is comprehensive. We have put in four years' plan to push growth and tackle non-performing assets,“ FM Arun Jaitley said. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the allocation for the first year is adequate and that it's a good beginning. The government sought Parliament's nod for a net additional Rs.25,495 crore of spending in the current financial year through its first supplementary demand for grants, of which Rs.12,010 crore is for the bank capitalisation programme. In the Budget for FY16, the government had initially proposed Rs.7,940 crore for capital allocation to state-run banks.
“The remaining Rs.5,000 crore would be provided in the second supplementary later this year,“ the finance ministry said in a statement. In FY15, the government infused Rs.6,990 crore in nine of 27 state-run banks on the basis of their performance -return on equity and return on assets.
The ministry said 40% of the Rs.25,000 crore, or Rs.10,000 crore, will be allocated to the top six lenders -State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank -to strengthen them to play a vital role in the economy.
Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the government will infuse Rs.20,000 crore in public sector banks likely by September. “Of the total infusion, Rs.10,000 crore capital would be provided to weak banks,“ he added.
While experts agreed, they said the move to increase capital allocation is only a short-term measure.
Shares of most public sector banks rose on the Bombay Stock Exchange, led by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India, both gaining more than 5% each.The benchmark Sensex advanced 1.48%.
According to the finance ministry's estimates, public sector banks will require Rs 1.8 lakh crore of additional capital in the next four financial years.
The finance ministry said at present all state-run banks are adequately capitalised and meet Basel-III and Reserve Bank of India norms and they will be able to raise the remainder of  Rs.1.1 lakh crore from the market because of improved valuations.
The gross non-performing loans of state-run banks rose to 5.2% of advances at the end of March 2015 from 4.72% a year ago, according to RBI. Banks have been forced to set aside a bigger share of their profit to cover potential losses and slow down credit disbursement because of lower capital availability.
Adhia expressed hope that bad loans in state-run banks will improve in the next two quarters.
The finance ministry said public sector banks (PSBs), which have got a predominant share of infrastructure financing, have been affected because of a variety of legacy issues.

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