BackArvind Panagariya makes strong case for PSU bank privatisation
Political parties serious of forming the government after 2019 Lok Sabha elections should include PSU bank privatisation in their manifesto, says former NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya
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New Delhi: Former NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya has made a strong case for privatisation of public sector banks with the exception of State Bank of India, saying that political parties serious of forming government in 2019 should include the proposal in their manifesto.
Panagariya, who is currently a professor of economics at Columbia University, said predominance of scandals and non-performing assets in PSU banks are important reasons for bank privatisation.
“I firmly believe that privatisation of all public sector banks, except perhaps the State Bank of India, should be on the election manifestos of all parties who wish to present themselves as serious candidates to form the government in 2019," Panagariya said when asked about the recent banking frauds, including the one at Punjab National Bank (PNB).
The economist further argued that efficiency and productivity demand that the government relinquish its control of those PSU banks whose market valuation has dwindled despite the fact that they hold the bulk of the deposits.
Panagariya noted that it is disingenuous to argue, as many advocates of PSU banks do, that achieving social goals of lending requires two dozen banks in the public sector.
“The fact of the matter is that private sector banks have often performed better than public sector banks in delivering on their priority-sector-lending obligations," he pointed out.
Asked to comment on recent trade tensions, with US President Donald Trump targeting India, Panagariya said that he would not hesitate to liberalize India’s trade further rather than risk the US closing its markets to Indian goods.
On Nobel laureate Paul Krugman’s recent comment that India story could end with mass unemployment, the former NITI Aayog vice chairman admitted that Krugman is surely right to point to the importance of manufacturing in the economic transformation of a developing country.
“I think manufacturing growth is essential for creating productive and well-paid jobs rather than escape mass unemployment," he said, adding that the economy is surely creating jobs. “The problem we face is that it is creating very few jobs that fully exploit the potential of our workers," Panagariya said.
Talking about overall Indian economy, he said that India remains stable in macroeconomic terms. “The GDP growth rate has been on the rising trend during the latest two quarters for which we have data—it rose from 5.7% during the first quarter of 2017-18 to 6.5% in the second quarter and 7.2% in the third quarter. I expect the upward trend to continue," Panagariya said.
On farmer protests across India, the economist said he always favoured cash transfers to rural BPL (below poverty line) households in times of crop failures via Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. “In the medium run, the government strategy of raising farmer incomes through marketing reforms and increased farm productivity are right on target," Panagariya said. PTI
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