Expect Rs 6K-cr loans to be restructured: PNB MD & CEO Mallikarjuna Rao

Under restructuring 1.0, PNB received requests for restructuring Rs 11,000 crore in corporate, retail, and MSME loans.

Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) expects to restructure loans worth Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 crore under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) restructuring 2.0 window. As the impact of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic fades, its Chief Executive S S MALLIKARJUNA RAO, in conversation with Nikunj Ohri and Abhijit Lele, is looking at demand picking up in the second quarter (starting July). While the RBI kept policy rates unchanged to support growth, rates may move north from the second half (H2) of 2021-22 (FY22). Edited excerpts:

Q. The second Covid wave has been intense and is still unfolding.