FM Sitharaman to review Public Sector Banks’ financial performance today

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to meet heads of public sector banks (PSBs) to review the financial performance of as many as 12 lenders today, Thursday, July 6. This will be the first review meeting after the 2022-23 financial results.

In the last fiscal year, PSBs together posted a record profit of ₹1.04 lakh crore, with market leader State Bank of India (SBI) accounting for nearly half of the total earnings.

However, the PSBs posted a total net loss of ₹85,390 crore in 2017-18, coming a long way as their profit touched ₹1,04,649 crore in 2022-23, according to a report published by the news agency PTI. 

Today's meeting will take stock of the progress made by banks in achieving targets set for the various government schemes, including Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Stand-Up India, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), and emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS) to help businesses affected by Covid-19, said sources. 

They added that the finance minister is likely to impress upon bankers to focus on the areas highlighted by the Budget, including credit flow to productive sectors.

FM Sitharaman would review credit growth, asset quality, and capital raising and business growth plan of banks for the next financial year, sources said, adding non-performing assets (NPAs) of ₹100 crore, and the recovery status would also be discussed, PTI reported. 

According to the latest Financial Stability Report (FSR), the gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) ratio for banks fell further to a ten-year low of 3.9 percent as of March 2023. The central bank said the GNPAs are expected to improve further to 3.6 percent in the baseline scenario.

Last week, the finance minister said banks need to "build on laurels" by following the best corporate governance principles.

"Banks should not sit back and revel in success. They should follow best corporate governance practices, adhere to regulatory norms, ensure prudent liquidity management, and continue to focus on having robust asset-liability and risk management," she had said.

(With PTI inputs)