PSU banks advised to boost pace of recovery and manage NPAs

What Government's Advice to PSU?
PSU banks advised to boost pace of recovery and manage NPAs The Government has advised public sector banks to take new initiatives to boost the pace of recovery and manage their non-performing assets (NPAs), Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena revealed.

Responding to a question in Lok Sabha on Friday, Meena said that public sector banks were facing an emergency situation due to a substantial increase in their NPAs.

NPA FLUCTUATION:
Bad loans of these lenders jumped to Rs 1.70 lakh crore as of September 2012, from Rs 94,000 crore in 2011.

Meena said that the all public sector lenders had been directed to constitute a board level committee for monitoring recovery of loans.

Speaking on the topic, he added, "The government has recently advised PSU banks to take new initiatives to increase the pace of recovery and manage NPAs."

India's ongoing macro-economic situation is being held responsible for the increase in public sector banks' NPAs.

On actions taken by the government to arrest soaring NPAs, the Minister of State for Finance said that nodal officers were being appointed for recovery of loans, special drives were being conducted for recovery of loss assets, the system of post-dated cheques was being replaced with electronic clearance system, and early warning systems were being put in place.