Mumbai:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has warned that banks
will not be able to sustain infrastructure financing as
their long-term loans have already increased to almost
40 per cent from less than 20 per cent five years ago.
This has left limited space for banks with shorter-term
sources of funds to increase their long-term exposure,
the RBI said in its ''Report on Currency and Finance -
2005-06.''
Medium-term and long-term loans had a combined share of
47.6 per cent in banks'' loan portfolio at the end of March
2005 against 17.5 per cent at the end of March 1995, the
RBI report said.
Total bank lending to the infrastructure sector at the
end of March 2006 stood at Rs108,787 crore, up 37.7 per
cent from a year earlier.
Power accounts for more than half the loans to infrastructure
and telecommunications, roads and ports.
Over 50 per cent of the term deposits mobilised by banks
in 2007 had tenures of less than one year, compared to
around 30 per cent in 2000.
This
will aggravate the asset-liability mismatch for banks.
The RBI said inadequate long-term resources could affect
India''s growth, especially infrastructure development,
the report warned.
|