Public sector banks would need additional Rs 50,000 cr recapitalisation in 2019-20, says report

New Delhi: Public sector banks (PSBs) would require another Rs 50,000 crore fund infusion in 2019-20 to help enable credit growth of 11 percent, SBI said in a report on Tuesday. As of December 2018, a total amount of Rs 51,513 crore has been infused into PSBs. “We also request that government should infuse the promised recapitalisation amount of Rs 54,487 crore (net of promised Rs 1,06,000 crore) by March 2019. This will act as a big enabler for banks. For the record, PSBs may require another Rs 50,000 crore of growth capital in FY20,” SBI said in its ‘Ecowrap’ report. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has deferred the implementation of the last tranche of 0.625 percent of Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) from 31 March, 2019 to 31 March 31 2020. This one-year window has afforded an opportunity to PSBs by an estimated relief of around Rs 35,000-38,000 crore, it said. [caption id=“attachment_4495585” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “Assuming an 11 percent credit growth in FY20 with credit risk weighted assets of 70 percent (RWAs to Gross Advances ratio declined from 80.26 percent in 17 September to 71.20 percent in 18 September), PSBs may be requiring around Rs 50,000 crore growth capital in FY20,” it said. However, it said, the same also depends upon some major variables that is alternate long term investor, recoveries from NCLT, investment environment, out of NCLT settlements, MTM provisioning of investments, additional or provision write-back. “We now understand that NITI Aayog is actively considering an Area Based Income Compensation (ABIC) scheme for farmers,” it said. “Our estimate suggests that if an ABIC scheme akin to Price Differential Scheme (PDS) is implemented for Rabi crops, i.e, wheat, barley, gram and lentil only, the cost could be around Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 1,600 per acre) whereas if income support at equivalent Rs 4000 per acre provided under same crops, then the cost could be Rs 41,969 crore which is significantly higher than the differential scheme. Hence ABIC scheme is indeed cost effective,” it said. However, the ABIC scheme has many disadvantages, it said. “We thus actively recommend an Income Support scheme on a per farmer basis to be rolled out on an immediate basis in Rabi season itself. The Government could decide the quantum of income support per farmer (Rs 4,000 per farmer for all farmers is Rs 60000 crore, if for small and marginal farmers, the cost could decline to Rs 50,000 crore),” it said. It also emphasized that fiscal policy choices must not obfuscate the roll out of such an income support scheme at least for now. Follow full coverage of Union Budget 2019-20 here   To keep watching India’s No. 1 English Business News Channel – CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News – CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day.