Ministry to push back the RBI deadline on Basel III norms

In a recent meeting with RBI, senior officials from the ministry pleaded for deferment of Basel III implementation dates beyond March 2019, saying it will help banks meet the capital needs and increase credit flow to productive sectors along with balance sheet clean-up.

The global capital to risk norms, called Basel III capital regulation, is being implemented in phased manner by Reserve Bank of India since April 1, 2013 and should be fully implemented as on March 31, 2019. Then the banks have to maintain a minimum common equity ratio of 8 % and total capital ratio of 11.5 % by March 2019.