(FE)
As fixing the banking crisis seems to be a top agenda for the government, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may choose the Budget presentation day, February 1, to announce bank merger proposals, CNBC-TV18 reported quoting an unidentified official. The Finance Ministry expects major mergers between Public Sector Banks (PSBs) early next fiscal.
On November 1, Arun Jaitley- headed a ministerial panel on consolidation of PSU banks has been empowered to direct lenders to examine proposals for amalgamation. Last month, Arun Jaitley speaking at an event said that bank recapitalisation will be among the top three priorities for the government for the fiscal year 2018-19.
The Finance Minister headed Alternative Mechanism (AM) will receive inputs from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before according in-principle approvals. The AM would devise its own procedure for appraisal of amalgamation proposals by banks, and be guided overall by the objectives of the Nationalisation Acts [Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts, 1970 and 1980], PTI reported.
