NEW DELHI: Calling Centre’s bailout plan for Yes Bank as ‘bizarre’ former Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said accountability has to be fixed. He said the Yes Bank fiasco was due to mismanagement of financial institutions by central government and the RBI should conduct a thorough probe in the matter.
Chidambaram said that the State Bank of India investing Rs 2,450 crore to pick up a 49 per cent stake in the bank under the government-approved bailout plan is bizarre. “This is a matter that must be thoroughly inquired into and accountability fixed. How did the loan book of Yes Bank jump from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 241,499 crore in March 2019, when I was not the finance minister. Notice the spike in 2016-17 and 2017-18, the two years immediately following demonetisation. Is no one in the RBI or government accountable,” he asked.
He questioned how no officer of the RBI noticed a 35 per cent jump in the loan book of the bank in a year when loan books of other banks was growing at nine per cent. “Yes Bank indulging in loan giving spree isn’t banking but buccaneering and the loan book of Yes Bank from March 2014 to March 2019 was allowed to grow and jump manifold,” he added. The Congress leader said whoever takes over the bank, it must ensure that depositors’ money is safe.
Mysterious jump
The ex-finance minister questioned the jump in the loan book of Yes Bank jump from `55,633 crore in March 2014 to `241,499 crore in March 2019.