Atul Khirwadkar, CEO of Kalyan Janata Sahakari Bank has reacted strongly to RBI’s take on current banking situation and says it falls short of the expectation. Khirwadkar has given reasons for his opinion.
”I believe what the RBI governor has done is at a Macrolevel and the issues of microlevel remain unaddressed”, said the CEO citing arguments.
“Even if I incur the wrath of some of the senior bankers and leaders I am of the view that for Cooperative banks and banks in general the legacy issues of the past 12 months are unaddressed”, he added.
The issues he listed include
1) Three months moratorium means the NPAs are frozen on 29th Feb 2020. No relief to these accounts unless the amount due has been paid by the borrowers.
2) For borrowers who avail 3 months moratorium will have to pay on the expiry of 3 months. How and from where they will pay presuming the lockdown is over by 15th April and thereafter the business cycle will commence, the borrowers may not have cash flow till the end of the 4th month.
3) The liquidity measures are excellent. But do Cooperative Banks have the skills to make use of trading 
opportunities?
5) Simple 180 days norm for 5 quarters could have addressed all the woes. Alas, that is not so.
6) Uncommon situation requires uncommon measures.
The RBI governor has lost touch with ground realities in banking. All the borrowers, good or bad, have a habit of clearing their dues in the month of March. Now they will not be paying. Therefore, I feel the Governor has done a good job but not an excellent job.
However, applauding the RBI, veteran cooperator and RBI central board member Satish Marathe wrote on FaceBook, “RBI delivers on Wish List of the Banking Fraternity. Kudos to GOI, RBI!” he wrote.
