India asks state-run banks to monitor top loan accounts

MUMBAI: India has asked state-run lenders to adopt stricter monitoring of top corporate loan accounts and submit a plan to deal with business risks in key areas within two weeks, three banking sources said on Monday.

Indian banks, in the past, have had to take deep haircuts on their exposure to debt-laden companies admitted under bankruptcy legislation.

“Bankers were told that it would be prudent to increase stress-testing of large corporate loan accounts,” a banker at a state-run bank said.

Banks were also asked to monitor the mark-to-market impact on their trading books amid rising interest rates and maintain their liquidity ratios, the sources added.

None of the sources wanted to be named because they are not allowed to speak to media.

Finance ministry officials met state-run bank chiefs on Saturday, with lenders asked to identify stress points, including “concentration risks and adverse exposures,” according to a government statement. The Finance Ministry did not respond to a Reuters email seeking additional details from the meeting. Lenders were also asked to increase the frequency of assessing their asset-liability profiles amid the global banking turbulence, another banker said.

The collapse of some US regional banks have led to concerns about lenders globally having to field possible losses on their held-to-maturity portfolios.

Reuters had earlier reported that the government had sought details of the bond portfolios of these banks as a precautionary exercise.

India’s banking system continues to be stable and resilient, and lenders have built sufficient buffers to shield themselves from any unforeseen stress, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India said earlier in March.