IBC has put recovery process on fast track, says Ficci Survey

New Delhi: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has put the debt recovery process on fast track and improved the position of banks, according to a Ficci survey.

Banks which participated in the survey highlighted that IBC has also increased promoters' willingness to come forward for resolution at an early stage of default.

To improve the resolution process, bankers suggested further enhancing of capacity, strengthening of the judiciary and empowerment of local level government officials, the seventh round of the FICCI-IBA survey said.

Participating in the survey, 22 bankers suggested that extension of moratorium beyond 270 days should not be permitted.

"They also suggested increasing the tenor of debt for companies that have viable businesses but are currently suffering from over-leveraged balance sheets, along with a moratorium period," the survey said.

"The IBC has shown success with resolution of stressed assets even as the law continues to evolve. Banks continue facing challenges in lending even as GDP growth has bounced back while CPI inflation faces upward risks in the form of rising oil prices and increasing government expenditure," it said.

About 67 per cent respondents have reported tightening of standards, steeply increasing from 28 per cent in the last round of the survey.

In the first half of 2018, RBI hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points in June 2018.

As per the survey, over half of the respondents (55 per cent) have increased their MCLR by up to 20 basis points during the period Jan-Jun 2018. Further, 27 per cent respondents increased MCLR by more than 30 basis points. Since then another hike in repo rate by 25 basis points was announced.

In case of term deposits, 41 per cent respondents increased their rates by more than 50 bps on term deposits of tenure below one year, while 50 per cent did so for term deposits of one year or above.

In view of the inter-departmental group set up to study feasibility of the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) formed by the RBI, bankers highlighted the benefits from CBDC.

Introduction of CBDC would increase digitization and greater competition between banks for deposits, benefitting depositors, it said. "Amongst the key areas of concern, respondents flagged the risk of increase in illegal transactions, cyber security threats, its use for speculative gains and effects to profitability and business model of banks.