Stressed assets of public sector banks zoom

Government-owned banks have seen their stressed asset portfolio almost doubling in one year till end-December 2012, with addition in fresh non-performing loans and restructured advances. The finance minister had recently asked banks to formulate a recovery strategy to lower the level of stressed assets. He had also asked banks to avoid lending to wilful defaulters and barring promoters of such companies from getting finance for floating new ventures for five years (Click on graphics)