RBI Governor Urjit Patel appears before parliamentary panel on Finance

RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Tuesday appeared before the 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance to brief it on November 2016 demonetisation and non-performing assets (NPA) situation in the public sector banks, among other issues, sources said.

Mr. Patel was earlier scheduled to appear before the panel on November 12.

Sources said that besides demonetisation, issues related to reforms in the RBI, stressed assets in the banking system, and state of the economy, were also listed as agenda items of the panel.

Mr. Patel is appearing before the panel days after the central bank’s face-off with the Finance Mministry over issues ranging from appropriate size of reserves to be maintained by the RBI to easing of lending norms for small and medium enterprises.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a member of the committee, which is headed by senior Congress leader and former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily.