press trust of india
New Delhi, July 18: Nine of the 21 public sector banks, including IDBI and Indian Overseas Bank, reported losses during 2016-17, the parliament was informed Tuesday. The number is down from 13 in 2015-16.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said IDBI had reported loss of Rs5,158 crore last fiscal, while IOB reported Rs3,417 crore losses. Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Oriental Bank and UCO Bank were the other banks reporting losses.
Gangwar said the government under the Indradhanush Plan has earmarked Rs70,000 crore for infusion in banks between financial years 2016 and 2019.
“The government has already infused a sum of Rs 47,915 crore to PSBs during 2015-16 and 2016-17 based on quantitative analysis of growth and compliance levels,” the minister said.
Not reviewing window
The finance ministry Tuesday said the Reserve Bank was not examining any proposal to extend the 90-day period for classification of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans to help small businesses.
The extant NPA norms were brought in after extensive consultations and were based on the report of the Committee headed by M Narasimham on Banking Sector Reforms, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in the Rajya Sabha.
“Any delay in recognition of deterioration in asset quality removes pressure on the banks to deal promptly with the problem,” Gangwar said in the written reply.
Impact not assessable
It is not possible to isolate the impact of demonetisation on India’s GDP as economic growth of a country depends on a number of factors, including monetary ones, the government said Tuesday. “The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country depends on several factors, including monetary factors (which is partly reflected by demonetisation). “Therefore, it is not possible to isolate the impact of demonetisation on India’s GDP,” Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in reply to the Rajya Sabha.
As per the latest estimates released by Central Statistical Office (CSO) in May 2017, the growth rate of GDP at constant market prices for 2015-16 and 2016-17 was 8 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively, he said.
To another query on whether the government has identified the number of households that have lost their jobs due to demonetisation since November 8, Gangwar said: “No such official report has been received.”
Amendment bill moved
A bill providing for amendment to the regulations governing compensation amount payable at the time of acquisition of immovable property by the central government was introduced in the Lok Sabhawas introduced by Minister of State for Planning, Programme Implementation and Statistics Rao Inderjit Singh.
The bill seeks to amend the provision to allow the central government to re-issue the notice of acquisition in order to ensure that the property’s owner gets an opportunity to be heard.
GST won’t be lowered
The government has ruled out cutting tax rates for the textiles sector, saying a zero per cent GST on fabrics will break the input tax credit chain for the domestic industry and make imported items cheaper.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it is not correct to say that textiles sector was never taxed in independent India. “Generally, the GST rates are equal or lower than the pre-GST tax incidence. And therefore, the price of fabrics is not likely to go up,” he said.
