The credit card arm of State Bank of India has reported a 46 per cent decline in net profits in the second quarter because of higher provisioning. Clearly, it expects a sharp jump in defaults. But the problem of bad loans will not remain limited to credit cards.
Although the true picture will only emerge once the lenders are allowed to classify accounts as non-performing, bad loans are likely to go up sharply in the coming quarters. This would put significant pressure on banks, particularly those in the public sector.
Business Standard opinion pieces of the day talk about the