Bank merger announcement is a needless distraction | The Indian Express

Bank merger announcement is a needless distraction | The Indian Express

Written by Duvvuri Subbarao |Updated: September 5, 2019 6:42:06 pm

Duvvuri Subbarao, former RBI governor, is a retired IAS officer. Views are personal.

Bank merger announcement is a needless distraction

Question is not whether public sector banks should be big or small. It is: Do we need public sector banks?

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after addressing a press conference on the merger of Public sector banks. Express Photo by Praveen Khanna

The finance minister’s announcement last week of the merger of public sector banks, coming in the wake of growth sinking to a six-year low, was meant to be seen as a big bang response to arresting the slowdown. On the contrary, it’s a needless distraction.