After PNB scam, non-governmental Expert Agency to review PSBs' monthly performance

The government has decided to appoint a non-governmental expert agency to review the monthly performance of the public sector banks (PSBs). 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 the past five to six years.  Sources close to the development informed Zee Business' Alok Priyadarshi that the government is planning to appoint a non-government agency to review the monthly performance of the PSBs. The expert agency will be tasked to do so on the basis of 60-parameters. 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, said the sources. 
 
In January 2018, the government announced Rs 2.11 trillion recapitalisation plan for public sector banks, besides chalking 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 in presence of RBI, which is the sole body responsible for auditing and reviewing the banks, raises many questions, including the government's trust deficit on the RBI's audit and its mechanism. 

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