'Govt looking after all aspects': Shahnawaz Hussain assures depositors on Yes Bank crisis

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Saturday assured depositors of Yes Bank to not panic over the situation and stated that the government is looking after the matter. On Thursday, the RBI imposed a 30-day moratorium on Yes Bank, restricting the withdrawal limit for customers to Rs 50,000. The Opposition has been constantly criticising the Centre over the same.

However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday assured the depositors that all their money is safe. She stated that she is in constant touch with the Reserve Bank of India and a resolution will be found soon. The Finance Minister added that she has been personally monitoring the situation for the past couple of months along with the RBI.

Speaking to ANI, Hussain reiterated Sitharaman's statement and asserted that the government will come up with a solution soon.

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"SBI Chairman and FM Nirmala Sitharaman have assured the depositors and they should not panic. The government is looking after all the aspects. They will come up with a solution and provide help accordingly," said the BJP leader.

Speaking to the reporters outside Parliament, FM Sitharaman said, "I am in continuous interaction with the RBI. The RBI has assured that they will give a quick resolution. I also want to assure every depositor that their money shall be safe. Their money is safe. I am constantly in touch with the Reserve Bank and the steps they have taken are in the interest of the depositors, the bank and the economy.

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SBI To Pick Up 49% Stake In crisis-ridden Yes Bank

In a recent development,  State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar addressed a press conference on Saturday that revealed that the SBI wants to pick a 49% stake in Yes Bank. Mentioning that the draft reconstruction plan had been unveiled by the RBI, he said that SBI's investment and legal team of SBI is conducting due diligence on it.

Thereafter, Kumar stated that the SBI would get back to the RBI with its comments before the March 9 deadline.

SBI Chairman remarked, “The draft scheme of Reserve Bank of India for the reconstruction of Yes Bank is already in the public domain. The plan has been received by the State Bank of India. And, our investment and legal team is doing due diligence on the draft scheme. There is a time given until Monday for us to go back to the Reserve Bank of India with our comments. Second is, we had informed the stock exchange that the SBI Board has given in-principle approval to explore the possibility of picking up a stake up to 49% in Yes Bank. As per the draft scheme, once we have completed our due diligence, we will go back to Reserve Bank of India with our comments.” 

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RBI's moratorium on Yes Bank

On Thursday, the RBI imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank, superseding its Board of Directors. In the meantime, former Chief Financial Officer of SBI Prashant Kumar has been appointed as its administrator. The RBI has cited Yes Bank's “inability to raise capital to address potential loan losses” and “serious governance issues” as some of the reasons for taking action. The RBI has however directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to pick up 49 per cent stake and it cannot reduce holding to below 26 per cent before three years from the date of capital infusion. From the appointed date, the authorised capital of the private sector bank would stand altered to Rs 5,000 crore and the number of equity shares to 2,400 crores having face value of Rs 2 each.

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