Nirmala Sitharaman/File
"Chacha-Bhatija" were given loans under Congress rule, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a jibe on Friday as she spoke about the crisis in Yes Bank. The bank was placed under a moratorium on Thursday with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capping deposit withdrawals at the bank of Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.
However, Sitharaman today said the RBI Governor has assured her there will be no loss to any Yes Bank depositor. The Finance Minister said that RBI as a regulator is working for an early resolution to Yes Bank issue. Steps are taken in the interest of depositors, bank and economy.
“We are fully of seized of the development. RBI governor has assured me that there will be no loss to any depositor,” Sitharaman said.
Yes 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.
Sitharaman insisted the immediate priority to ensure Yes Bank customers are able to withdraw money within Rs 50,000 limit.
For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.
The board of country's largest lender State Bank of India on Thursday gave an "in-principle" approval to invest in the capital-starved Yes Bank.
Yes Bank has been struggling to execute a capital raising plan for the last six months. Its core equity tier-I ratio had slipped to 8.7 per cent as of September.
The bank had also delayed its December quarter results.
