MUMBAI: Punjab National Bank (PNB), one of the largest public sector lenders in the country, has under-reported its non-performing assets (NPAs)by R2,617 crore for the fiscal year 2018-19, as per RBI’s risk-assessment report, and this has led to a lower provisioning and to a consequent lower loss for the period under review.
A recent SEBI circular had mandated banks to disclose the divergence in the asset classification and provisioning immediately upon receipt of Reserve Bank of India (RBI’s) final Risk Assessment Report (RAR).
PNB said in a statement filed to the stock markets on Saturday that the adjusted loss for the year ended March 31, 2019 after taking into account the divergence in provisioning was Rs11335.90 against a lower loss of Rs9975.49 crore reported by the bank.
The divergence in provisioning for bad loans for the said period was to the tune of Rs2,091 crore and consequently, based on the divergence assessed by RBI in provisioning for bad loans, PNB said it would have reported a higher loss.
The bank also said it reported gross NPAs of Rs78,472.70 crore, while as per RBI’s assessment the figure was Rs81,089.70 crore – a divergence of Rs2617 crore. Provisions for NPAs made by the bank in the financial year 2018-19 stood at Rs48151.15 crore when it was required to provide Rs50,242.15 crore as per RBI assessment.
