Cabinet approves bank merger

The cabinet gave an “in-principle” approval for the consolidation of state-run banks by merging some of the lenders, reports said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is due to brief media on the outcome of the cabinet meeting at 3:00 pm, a government spokesman said, without giving details.

The government owns majority stakes in 21 lenders, which account for more than two-thirds of banking assets in Asia’s third-biggest economy.

But these banks also account for the lion’s share of more than $150 billion in sour assets plaguing the sector.

The banks also need billions of dollars in new capital by March 2019 to meet global Basel III banking rules.