Arun Jaitley rules out privatisation of public sector banks

The call for privatisation gathered currency after diamond jeweller Nirav Modi allegedly colluded with some officials of PNB to fraudulently obtain guarantees

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday ruled out privatisation of public sector banks as a response to the Rs 11,400-crore fraud hitting Punjab National Bank, saying the move may not be politically acceptable.

Speaking at the Economic Times’ Global Business Summit, he said a lot of people have started talking of privatisation in the aftermath of the PNB fraud. “This (privatisation) involves a large political consensus. Also, that involves an amendment to the law (Banking Regulation Act). My impression is that Indian political opinion may not find favour with this idea itself. It’s a very challenging decision,” he said.

On Friday, FICCI