MUMBAI – Urjit Patel, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss flash points between the central bank and the government, CNBC-TV18 tweeted late on Monday, citing sources.
The RBI is considering a loan restructuring package for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as reviewing lending curbs on some banks, the Economic Times reported earlier, in a move that could see the regulator bow to government pressure.
RBI is likely to let some banks out of prompt corrective action framework (PCA) and both the parties could soften their stance in the RBI board meeting on Nov. 19, the CNBC-TV18 tweet added. The government may not insist on taking RBI’s capital, according to the tweet.
The RBI has barred 11 state-run banks from lending under the so-called prompt corrective action plan until they improve their capital ratios, reduce bad debt and become profitable.
But the central bank and the government have been at loggerheads in recent weeks with the latter ramping up pressure on the regulator to relax lending curbs and hand over surplus reserves.
The rift widened after RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya in a speech on Oct. 26 warned that undermining central bank independence could be “potentially catastrophic”.
The package the Reserve Bank of India has agreed to explore, after analysing data from lending banks, could include some relaxation in the classification of non-performing assets, as well as providing loans to borrowers hit by the note ban and tax overhaul, the Economic Times reported.
Businesses in India have been hit by a chaotic rollout of a goods and service tax last year and a shock move to ban high value currency notes in late 2016 that have in turn hampered economic growth.
REUTERS
13/11/2018
Share this:
Categories: International News
