Banks must maintain 7% core capital: RBI

Indian banks have to maintain Tier I capital, or core capital, of at least 7% of their risk weighted assets on an ongoing basis, the Reserve Bank of India said in its final guidelines on Basel III capital regulations on Wednesday.

Under the existing capital adequacy guidelines based on the Basel II framework, banks are required to maintain Tier I capital of at least 6% of their risk weighted assets.

The total capital ratio, including Tier I and Tier II, must be at least 9%, unchanged from the current requirement, the RBI said in a statement, compared with the Basel III minimum requirement of 8%.

The guidelines are effective from January 1, 2013 in a phased manner and will be will be fully implemented on March 31, 2018.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, banks will have to disclose capital ratios computed under the existing guidelines, as well as those computed under the Basel III framework, the central bank said.