Reflections 2023: Banks have done well in 2023, still there lies scope for further development

Mumbai: As a whole, the banking sector has done well in the calendar year 2023. It is visible by observing the performance of the sector for the third quarter of the current financial year which closes on December 31.

The advances grew by 17 per cent, while the deposits were up by 11-12 per cent. It shows a remarkable growth as in the previous quarter, the advances had grown by 14 per cent and deposits by 10-11 per cent only.

Coming to the banks’ performance during the the outgoing calendar year, state-run lenders have earned a net profit of about Rs 68,500 crore during the first six months of the current financial year.

Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) have been declining during the last three years. It has declined from Rs 8,35,051 crore (GNPA ratio of 7.33 per cent) as on March 31, 2021, to Rs 7,42,397 crore (GNPA ratio of 5.82 per cent) as on March 31, 2022 and further to Rs 5,71,544 crore (GNPA ratio of 3.87 per cent) as on March 31, 2023, reveals a data by RBI. Talking to Bizz Buzz, AS Rajeev, MD & CEO CEO of Bank of Maharashtra says, “Average growth rate of the bank in terms of both advances and deposits are all set to improve further during the next year.

Both the advances and the deposits are likely to improve by 2-3 per cent in each of the next two quarters of current financial year.”

Rajeev made it clear that the banking sector has done very well this year as the grey areas like NPA have also improved remarkably during the quarter.

According to Rajeev, the provision requirement for banks was likely to come down next year, once the NPA comes down to the level of 3 per cent.

In the meanwhile, finance minister Niramala Sitharaman will review the financial performance of lenders on December 30.

The meeting is going to take stock of the progress made by banks in achieving targets set for the various government schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Stand-Up India, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).

Of late, the Finance Ministry has instructed the heads of public sector banks (PSBs) to intensify their oversight and evaluation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) cases, particularly focusing on the top 20 cases.

The PSBs are likely to go for a monthly review of these cases for swift resolution of such cases.

Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi conducted a review of the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL). He took a stock of challenges faced by NARCL and banks, focusing on the efficient assignment of potential debt to NARCL.

Last but not the least, PSBs are all set to go for five-day week as per the proposal which has been submitted by the bank employees unions before government through Indian Banks’ Association.