No worries on liquidity front: new Yes Bank chief Prashant Kumar

Mumbai: Yes Bank CEO-designate Prashant Kumar on Tuesday said there are absolutely no worries on the liquidity front and that complete operational normalcy would be restored from 6 pm on Wednesday.

On March 5, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a moratorium on the troubled private sector lender, including capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per depositor. The moratorium would be lifted by 6 pm on March 18, as per the reconstruction scheme notified by the RBI on Friday.

"We have made adequate precautions. All our ATMs are full with cash. All our branches have adequate supply of cash. So, from Yes Bank side, there is absolutely no issue on the liquidity front," Kumar told reporters here on Tuesday. He also clarified that there would not be any need to depend on external sources for liquidity.

"But if there is a case, then those liquidity lines are adequately available to the bank," he said and assured depositors that there was no need to worry about the safety of their deposits. After the moratorium is lifted, Kumar said all the customers of the bank would be able to enjoy the entire banking services. According to Kumar, only one-third of the bank's customers, who could have withdrawn the funds during the moratorium period, have withdrawn money to the extent of Rs 50,000.

About the reconstruction scheme, Kumar said that due to support from the government, the RBI and the other financial institutions, the crisis at the bank was taken care within 13 days. Under the scheme, Yes Bank has received over Rs 10,000 crore from eight financial institutions, including Rs 6,050 crore from SBI. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said not even a single Yes Bank share it holds would be sold before the three-year lock-in period. He also said that SBI would increase stake in Yes Bank to 49 per cent from current 42 per cent in second funding round.

Shares of Yes Bank jumped over 59 per cent on Tuesday. ICICI Bank and HDFC ((Rs 1,000 crore each) Axis Bank (Rs 600 crore), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 500 crore, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank (Rs 300 crore each) and IDFC First (Rs 250 crore) also joined the SBI-led consortium and invested in Yes Bank.