New Delhi: Losses of public sector banks crossed a whopping Rs 87,300 crore in the 2017-18 fiscal, topped by scam-tainted Punjab National Bank (PNB) which took a hit of nearly Rs 12,283 crore.
Of the 21 state-owned banks, only Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank posted profits during 2017-18. Indian Bank posted the highest profit of Rs 1,258.99 crore and Vijaya Bank’s profit was Rs 727.02 crore in the fiscal.
Thus, the net loss posted by state-owned banks was about Rs 85,370 crore in 2017-18 as against a net profit of Rs 473.72 crore in the previous fiscal.
The 19 government-run banks collectively posted a net loss of Rs 87,357 crore during the fiscal, according to the latest quarterly numbers posted by these lenders.
Punjab National Bank, which is reeling under more than Rs 14,000-crore scam allegedly perpetrated by jeweller Nirav Modi and associates, posted a net loss of Rs 12,282.82 crore last fiscal.
In 2016-17, the Delhi-headquartered bank had posted a profit of Rs 1,324.8 crore.
PNB was followed by IDBI Bank, whose net loss widened to Rs 8,237.93 crore in the fiscal ended March 2018 from Rs 5,158.14 crore in the previous year.
India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India, also added hugely to the combined losses of PSBs. SBI’s net loss in 2017-18 stood at Rs 6,547.45 crore as against a net profit of Rs 10,484.1 crore in 2016-17.
The Indian banking sector is grappling with mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) and a host of scams and frauds.
The NPA in the banking sector stood at Rs 8.31 lakh crore as of December 2017.
Weak financials due to mounting bad loans have already pushed 11 banks of the 21 state-owned banks under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework of the Reserve Bank.
The recent tight prudential norms released by the RBI on February 12 have added to the NPA woes.
Interim finance minister Piyush Goyal has announced setting up of a committee to give recommendations in two weeks on formation of an Asset Reconstruction Company for faster resolution of stressed accounts.
The committee under Sunil Mehta, non-executive chairman of PNB, will make recommendations in two weeks on setting up of an Asset Reconstruction Company or Asset Management Company for faster resolution of stressed accounts.
The minister said the committee will consider whether such an arrangement will be good for the banking system and, if any such suggestion is advisable, it will also consider the modalities by which such an ARC and/or and AMC should be set up.
Also Watch
-
FiFA World Cup 2018 : Russia Has Come Up With Fan ID For FIFA World Cup
Saturday 09 June , 2018 Meet Sangeeta Bahl, the Oldest Woman To Summit Everest at 53
Friday 08 June , 2018 Top 5 iOS 12 Features Announced At Apple WWDC 2018
Friday 08 June , 2018 Can Delhi Be A Full State?
Thursday 07 June , 2018 Suniel Shetty Talks About Fitness And His Mission To Make India Fit
Source: News18