State Bank of India (SBI) will consider loan restructuring for eligible borrowers after the end of moratorium period which draws to a close on August 31, according to its Managing Director Dinesh Khara.
“Restructuring of eligible loans will also be considered as and when the moratorium comes to an end at the end of August,” he said, speaking at a conference organised by Dun and Bradstreet.
It can be noted that earlier this month, the Reserve Bank had allowed for loan recasts to happen on a case to case basis across all sections of borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and constituted a committee headed by K V Kamath to look into cases of over Rs 1,500 crore of exposure to determine if they can be recast.
Khara, who looks over global markets and subsidiaries for SBI, said the lender has mostly followed the strategy adopted by the government in helping the country fight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with some customization wherever required.
He said corporates are “conserving cash” and in a wait and watch mode at present.
There is flight to safety tendency displayed by the major corporates, he said, adding companies are looking at ways to reduce leverage or refinancing loans to lower their cost of borrowing.
He said digital banking tools have proved to be a boon during the pandemic, pointing out that 38 per cent of personal loans disbursed by the bank were executed through its app, Yono.
Khara said some states have already adopted the requirements on the ‘Aatmanirbhar’ India front which seeks to focus on self-reliance across sectors.