Mundra concerned about ‘leaderless banks’

RESERVE BANK of India Deputy Governor S S Mundra on Wednesday expressed concern over the increasing number of senior officials retiring from public sector banks, noting it’s an area that needed “serious attention”.

Speaking at the State Bank of India Banking and Economics Conclave, Mundra said, “Unlike the talk about driverless cars, there’s no question of having leaderless banks,” which is why the issue was imminent and needed to be solved.

“We are far away from talking about leaderless banks, I don’t think this will happen tomorrow,” Mundra said, adding that barring SBI, at least 20 CEO and CMD positions among the PSBS were vacant. Mundra added that nearly 73 per cent of the deputy general managers and general managers in PSBS are above 55 years of age and another 23 per cent between 50-55.

“This is the whole profile of leadership in the succession line... so this is another area that needs serious attention,” he said.

He also raised doubts about the high growth in agri lending. “If the land bank is same, the area under irrigation hasn’t changed, if the fragmentation is happening, then what accounts for the increase in lending?” he asked.