NEW DELHI: The Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has mooted the formation of a centralised public sector asset rehabilitation agency (PARA).According to the survey, the country is grappling with a 'Twin Balance Sheet' (TBS) problem of over-leveraged companies and bad-loan-encumbered banks, a legacy of the boom years around the global financial crisis. The problem has consequently continued to fester: Non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banking system (and especially public sector banks) keep increasing, while credit and investment keep falling," the survey said. "As per the survey, gross NPAs has climbed to almost 12 per cent of gross advances for public sector banks at end-September 2016. "At this level, India's NPA ratio is higher than any other major emerging market, with the exception of Russia. A decisive resolution is urgently needed before the TBS problem becomes a serious drag on growth."

Source: Economic Times January 31, 2017 08:27 UTC