Government, RBI in talks to postpone Basel-III norms for banks

The government is in talks with the Reserve Bank of India, in a bid to postpone the implementation of the international capital norms or Basel-III norms in the Indian banking sector, which is struggling with the issue of surmounting bad debts. It has been made mandatory for the banks to abide by the Basel-III regulatory norms by March 2019.

The extension of the last date to meet the capital needs will provide the banks an opportunity to increase their lending while they settle their bad loans tussle and also raise capital.

Basel III (or the Third Basel Accord) is a global, voluntary regulatory framework on bank capital adequacy, stress testing, and market liquidity risk. It was agreed upon by the members of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2010–11.