FM Sitharaman lauds SBI, says India needs 4-5 big banks to boost economy

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Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India requires four or five more big banks like the State Bank of India to boost the economy of the country.</p>
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“The way in which the economy is shifting to a different plane altogether, the way in which industry is adapting, so many new challenges keep arising. To address these challenges, we need not just more, but bigger banks,” she said while addressing 74th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) in Mumbai.</p>
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According to the official press statement, the minister also underlined the need for bankers to adapt in line with fast changes in technology. “What we think is latest today will be outdated in a year or so, we have to thus acquire resources to constantly update ourselves.”</p>
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Thanking the IBA for being able to establish the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. and India Debt Resolution Company Ltd that will be able to restructure and sell the non performing assets, Sitharaman also said that the NARCL is not a bad bank.</p>
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“It is a formulation which is intended to clean up banks' assets and dispose of NPAs in a speedy manner. Banks are now able to raise money from the market, hence the burden on govt. to recapitalize banks will be less, this is how we want banks to function – a lot more professional, with a changed mindset,” she said.</p>