GROSS NPAS OF PSBS DECLINE TO ₹6.09 L-CR IN SEP 2020: THAKUR
NEW DELHI: Gross non-performing assets (NPAS) of public sector banks (PSBS) declined from ₹8.96 lakh crore in March 2018 to ₹6.09 lakh crore in September 2020 due to various measures taken by the government, minister of state for finance Anurag Singh Thakur informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
There was record recovery of ₹2.54 lakh crore during March 2018 and September 2020 and 11 out of 12 PSBS reported profit in the first half of 2020-21 amounting to ₹14,688 crore, he said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. Provision coverage ratio of PSBS is at over 8 years high at 85.06% at the end of September 2020.
Asset quality review (AQR) initiated in 2015 for cleaning up banks’ balance sheets revealed high incidence NPAS, he said.
As a result of AQR and subsequent transparent recognition by banks, he said, stressed accounts were reclassified as NPAS and expected losses on stressed loans, not provided for earlier under flexibility given to restructured loans, were provided for.
Further, all such schemes for restructuring stressed loans were withdrawn in 2017-18.
“Primarily as a result of transparent recognition of stressed assets as NPAS as per RBI data on global operations, gross NPAS of PSBS rose from ₹2,79,016 crore as on March 31, 2015, to ₹8,95,601 crore as on March 31, 2018, and as a result of government’s strategy of recognition, resolution, recapitalisation and reforms, have declined to ₹6,09,129 crore as on September 30, 2020,” he said.
TOKYO: Bitcoin extended gains on Tuesday to a record high as the afterglow of Tesla Inc’s investment in the cryptocurrency had investors reckoning it would become a mainstream asset class for both corporates and money managers.
Bitcoin has more than doubled over two months as institutional investors search for alternative wealth stores and retail traders ride the wave. Monday’s leap after Tesla’s announcement was its largest daily rise in more than three years.
It climbed to a new peak of $48,216 late in the Asian afternoon on Tuesday. Rival cryptocurrency ethereum had struck a record high of $1,784.85 in the early morning.
Shares of companies that provide trading platforms for bitcoin and the technology to “mine” the cryptocurrency surged in China, South Korea, and Australia, and big computer chip making companies such as SK Hynix also rose.
The US dollar slumped against most currencies.
Analysts figured Tesla’s announcement that it had bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin and that it would take the cryptocurrency as payment for cars is part of a larger shift as companies and big investment houses follow small traders into the asset.
“While you can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin, I wouldn’t suggest doing so,” said Michael Bucella, partner at crypto investment firm Blocktower on CNBC. “We’re in a position where these are the earliest phases of an allocation to bitcoin from the institutional and corporate community.”
Bitcoin is already up 62% this year, on top of a 300% rally last year, as investors search for alternatives to the greenback because of the US Federal Reserve’s 0% interest rates.
Central bankers and regulators, particularly in China, are also starting to embrace issuing their own digital currencies for everyday use, in a major break from the conventional workings of global finance.
“Digital currencies, it seems clear to us, are going to be an increasing part of financial architecture very broadly and potentially portfolios moving forward,” Ben Powell, APAC chief investment strategist at Blackrock’s Investment Institute, said on CNBC.
“There isn’t just news in the US with the bitcoin situation, but in China we’ve got a rollout of China’s digital currency with so-called ‘red packets’.”
Tesla boss Elon Musk has long been a cryptocurrency fan - he has talked them up online - but Tesla’s hard currency investment came as a surprise that has put a rocket under the sector.
Even dogecoin, a joke cryptocurrency with a dog as its symbol, has seen its value turbocharged after Musk mentioned it on Twitter. It has jumped by 13% in the past day, according to Coinmarketcap.
China’s Feitian Technologies Co Ltd, which makes technology for digital payments, rose 4.47% on Tuesday.