Non-governmental expert agency to be appointed to review monthly performance of PSBs

New Delhi: The Government has decided to appoint a non-governmental expert agency to review the monthly performance of the banks. The decision was taken in the backdrop of RBI's annual risk-based supervisory audit that failed to detect any lapses in the government-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) in past five to six years.

Sources close to the development informed Zee Business's Alok Priyadarshi that the government is planning to appoint a non-government agency to review the monthly performance of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs). The expert agency will be tasked to review the performance on basis of 60-parameters. The sources also added that the second tranche of the recapitalisation, which was announced by the government in January 2018, will be released on the basis of monthly-performance of every PSBs.

In January 2018, the government announced the Rs 2.11 trillion recapitalisation plan for public sector banks. At the same time, it also chalked out a comprehensive time-bound reforms agenda, EASE (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence). State-run banks were asked to seek approval from their respective boards for implementing the EASE plan.

Appointing a non-governmental agency to review the performance of banks at least in presence of RBI, which is the sole body responsible for auditing and reviewing the banks, raises many questions including the government don't have trust on RBI's audit and its mechanism.

According to the sources, the second tranche of recapitalisation will be released after reviewing the second and third quarter performance of the banks. As the government hopes that their performance will improve after the second quarter and it hopes that the banks will be able to raise money for recapitalisation the ongoing financial year.

(Reported by: Alok Priyadarshi, Written by Jitesh Kumar Jha)