For the second time in 3 days, Arun Jaitley will address an event by video conference and Piyush Goyal will be present in person and also speak.
New Delhi: The unique situation of a stand-in finance minister and the minister he is standing in for taking part in the same event and even addressing it will play out once again Tuesday when Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal address the State Bank of India’s annual Banking and Economics Conclave.
Jaitley, who is recovering after a kidney transplant surgery and is union minister without portfolio, is due to address the gathering in Mumbai by video conference. Goyal is scheduled to inaugurate the conclave, the theme of which is ‘The future of corporate banking in India: Issues & Way Forward’.
The event will be a repeat of what the national capital witnessed on Sunday, the first anniversary of the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. While Jaitley addressed the event organised to mark the anniversary by video conference, Goyal presided over it as chief guest.
“There has been some confusion over whether Jaitley will be able to participate in the event. We are expecting him to address through a video conference,” a senior SBI official said as the bank’s top brass geared up for the event.
The two-day conclave is being held at a time when the level of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans has risen alarmingly and the morale of bank staff is low following the arrest of several senior officials in connection with allegedly suspicious transactions.
The conclave is likely to focus on the current domestic and international economic scenario as well as challenges faced by the banking industry.
According to the Financial Stability Report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the gross NPA ratio of scheduled commercial banks could further rise to 12.2 per cent by the end of the current financial year from 11.6 per cent in March 2018.