NPA: “We are confident that we will be able to tide over the crisis,” Urjit Patel
NEW DELHI : RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Tuesday faced tough questions from a parliamentary panel on bad loans, bank frauds, cash crunch and other issues even as he assured the members that steps were being taken to strengthen the system.
Sources present at the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance said the RBI Governor expressed confidence of tiding over the crisis regarding non-performing assets (NPAs).
Striking an optimistic note, Mr. Patel informed the committee that after implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the situation on the NPA front has been improving. There have been rising concerns about bad loans, health of various public sector banks and fallout of the nearly ₹ 13,000 crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank.
Some members of the committee, headed by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, sought to know about the reasons for recent instances of ATMs running out of cash and why enough steps were not taken to tackle banking frauds.
Patel told the panel that steps were being taken to strengthen the banking system. “We are confident that we will be able to tide over the crisis,” a source quoted the Governor as saying with respect to the NPA situation.
The panel, he had said, would also ask questions about the mounting NPAs in the banking system and the Rs 13,000 crore PNB fraud, which raises doubts about the monitoring system of the RBI.
In his last appearance before the panel, Patel was also questioned on loan restructuring programmes, which lead to evergreening of loans, and resolution of defaults under the IBC, sources had said.
Sources present at the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance said the RBI Governor expressed confidence of tiding over the crisis regarding non-performing assets (NPAs). Parliamentary panel seeks roadmap on NPA problem, enquirers about ‘nepotism’ in ICICI Bank
Some members of the committee, headed by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, sought to know about the reasons for recent instances of ATMs running out of cash and why enough steps were not taken to tackle banking frauds.
In his last appearance before the panel, Mr. Patel was also questioned on loan restructuring programmes, which lead to ever greening of loans, and resolution of defaults under the IBC, sources had said.
On the Nirav Modi matter, as per sources, Urjit Patel has given his assurance that such an episode won’t be repeated as steps are being taken to strengthen the banking system.
The $2 billion Nirav Modi-PNB Bank scam had to do with the diamantaire getting letters of undertaking (LOUs) issued by a specific bank branch in Mumbai and using them to gain credit from foreign branches of Indian banks.
Patel was also asked about the total amount of currency in circulation as well as the total returns of demonetised currency after the November 2016 move. As per sources, he hasn’t yet replied but may do so later on Tuesday.(With Agency Inputs ).
