RBI gets cracking, raises provisioning for recast loans

Concerned over rising bad debts in the banking system, RBI has sharply raised the provisioning requirements for restructured loans of banks to 5 percent from existing 2.75 percent.

The announcement comes less than three months after the Reserve Bank raised provisioning on restructured accounts to 2.75 percent to 2 percent to mitigate risk attached with such loans.

[caption id=“attachment_609647” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] For banks, already burdened with higher restructuring of advances, the proposals would put further pressure on their bottom lines. Reuters[/caption]

“It has now been decided to increase the provision to five per cent in respect of new restructured standard accounts (flow) with effect from April 1, 2013 and in a phased manner for the stock of restructured standard accounts as on March 31, 2013,” RBI said in a notification.

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For accounts restructured prior to March 31, 2013, banks would have to make provision of 3.75 percent in the first phase effective March 31, 2014. The increase of one percent additional provisioning in case of restructured accounts prior to March 31, 2013 will be spread over the four quarters of 2013-14, it said.

In the next phase it will be 5 percent with effect from March 31, 2015. The additional provision would be spread over the four quarters of 2014-15, it added. “It has been decided that promoters’ personal guarantee should be obtained in all cases of restructuring and corporate guarantee cannot be accepted as a substitute for personal guarantee,” it said.

However, corporate guarantee can be accepted in those cases where the promoters of a company are not individuals but other corporate bodies or where the individual promoters cannot be clearly identified, it added. The notification further said: “It has been decided that promoters’ sacrifice and additional funds brought by them should be a minimum of 15 percent of banks’ sacrifice, or 2 percent, of the restructured debt, whichever is higher”.

This stipulation is the minimum and banks may decide on a higher sacrifice by promoters depending on the riskiness of the project and promoters’ ability to bring in higher sacrifice amount, it said. Further, it said, such higher sacrifice may invariably be insisted upon in larger accounts, especially CDR (corporate

debt restructuring) accounts.

The decisions are based on recommendations made by Working Group headed by B Mahapatra to review the existing Prudential Guidelines on Restructuring of Advances.

PTI