Five public sector banks (PSBs) — State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India (BOI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda (BoB) — have at least Rs 7.9 lakh crore worth of loans under moratorium.
This amount, which is nearly 20 percent of all local advances, includes loans that were stressed even before the coronavirus pandemic affected the economy, Mint reported.
The amount, however, is not absolute. Only SBI, which is shouldering the bulk moratorium amount of Rs 5.63 lakh crore, has included pre- and post-COVID-19 cases. The other four have given out numbers only for pre-COVID-19 deferments, it said.
Further, since there are no standard disclosure norms for loans under a moratorium, each bank has chosen their own metric for calculation and may not necessarily reflect the COVID-19 impact on loan repayment capabilities, the report noted.
Some have chosen to reveal the percentage of loan book under a moratorium, and others the percentage of borrowers who opted for a moratorium.
The five PBSs also revealed Rs 19,182 crore worth of loans are under special mention account (SMA-2) and the borrowers who benefited from the standstill in asset classification.
Loans are categorised as “stressed” even when the repayment is delayed by only a day. SMA-2 loans are those loan repayments which are delayed by 61-90 days.
Lenders are likely waiting till the moratorium period ends for clarity on data, analysts told the paper. They also believe that the situation has improved from mid-May levels.
Asutosh Mishra, Head of research - Institutional equity at Ashika Stock Broking said that there is a lack of coherence at the moment, but a clearer picture of final numbers could be expected by September.
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