Yes Bank resolution to be done 'very swiftly', says Shaktikanta Das

Defending the timing of Yes Banks moratorium, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday (March 6) assured swift resolution to the issues concerning the beleaguered lender.

“The resolution to Yes Bank will be done very swiftly, it will be done very fast. 30 days which we have given is the outer limit. You will see very swift action from RBI,” Das told the reporters.

He said that the decision on Yes Bank was taken at a larger level, not only to deal with the problem in an individual entity but also to maintain stability and resilience of the Indian financial and banking sector.

The RBI governor further assured that the banking sector continues to be sound and safe and that the RBI was ready to deal with the challenge ahead.

On the timing of the action on Yes Bank, he said there is always debate over RBI acting prematurely or taking too long to act.

“A market-led and bank-led resolution of the problem is always preferable. You have to give time to the bank to take step and efforts. And they did take efforts. When we found that we cannot wait and should not wait any longer, we decided to intervene.

Yes Bank was on Thursday (March 5) placed under a moratorium, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at ₹50,000 per account for a month and also superseding its board.

The bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.