NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday assured that the government is keeping a close watch on the impact of coronavirus on Indian economy, and that the proposed bank mergers will be carried out without delay. “We are closely monitoring the coronavirus impact. Secretary-level officials are engaging with their respective industries. We will have a quick review of all departments, coming back with specific help they may require. We will collate all these and get back to you,” Sitharaman said.
So far, over 2,700 people have died due to the novel coronavirus globally and 80,000 are infected. Several airlines, including Indian carriers, have cancelled some of their overseas flights and shipments. Meanwhile, Sitharaman, who met top executives of Public Sector Banks (PSB) on Wednesday, ruled out any possible delays in the proposed merger of 10 PSBs. “There is absolutely no uncertainty about bank mergers… A lot of core banking operations regarding the merger are currently going on. Banks are working very hard on that… We are going as per the schedule,” she told reporters post the meeting.
In August 2019, the Centre had announced merger of 10 PSBs into four, of which United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce are to be merged with Punjab National Bank, making the proposed entity the second largest PSB in the country, from April 1.Sitharaman also informed that the PSBs have identified 5.53 lakh MSME loan accounts for restructuring, of which 5.28 lakh loans have already been restructured. The rest will restructured by March 15.
The Reserve Bank of India had earlier this month extended the loan restructuring timeline for MSME accounts from earlier March 31 to December 31, 2020, without downgrading the asset classification to standard accounts. The Finance Minister on Wednesday also lashed out at banks for their deteriorating connect with customers on branch level. “Customers expect personal touch from the staff. Many staff do not know local language. Many are not informed of the government schemes,” Sitharaman said.
For better banking
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday unveiled EASE 3.0, a PSBs’ vision document from Indian Banks’ Association.