Bringing down the non-performing assets of banks and making accounting standards transparent rank high on the agenda of K J Udeshi, the new deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
She will oversee the crucial department of banking operations and development even though all along she had been handling exchange control, human resource development and internal administration.
In an exclusive interview with Business Standard, Udeshi said bringing down the level of NPAs is her top priority.
"We want the Indian banking system to be on a par with international norms and standards," she said.
Among her other priorities are to help banks achieve high standards of customer service and project a clean banking sector image to the world.
"As regulator we want to deal each and every issue in a transparent manner. We have been following the consensus approach for introducing all norms," she said.
She also admitted that certain section of the borrowers are not getting bank loans at a cheap rate even though the general interest rate scenario is soft.
"Ultimately the loan rate depends on the rating of the corporate which is seeking bank loans. After all, the banks are answerable to their share holders and they need to protect their bottomlines," she said.
Commenting on capital account convertibility and exchange control, which is one of her areas of expertise, Udeshi there is not target date to achieve the CAC and the entire transition process will happen gradually.
"We have gone a long way on this front. The things that are left to be done is allowing resident Indians to replace domestic assets with foreign assets. A beginning has been made even in this area but in due course the scope of building assets abroad will be enlarged," she pointed out. India is the only country that has not rolled back any CAC measure.
Addressing the foreign exchange dealers, Udeshi had last September mentioned that with the approach of gradualism, India is internationally recognised as a model country that has calibrated well the liberalisation of its external sector without any backtracking.
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