RBI capped deposit withdrawals at Yes Bank at Rs 50,000 on Thursday
New Delhi:
Outlining a restructuring plan for Yes Bank after restrictions imposed by the RBI, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today lashed out at opposition criticism, stressing that the crisis originated on Congress watch.
"The opposition is very keen to point fingers on this. Not that I want to put a blame on them, but I have reason to do so," Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.
She alleged that the government had faced "several challenges" because of the way the previous Congress-led government had handled things in the 10 years it ruled between 2004 and 2014.
Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium on Thursday, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capping deposit withdrawals at the bank at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.
"It is important for the media to know – the exposure of Yes Bank to some very stressed corporates was since before 2014 (when the BJP came to power). Their names – Anil Ambani group, DHFL, ILFS, Vodafone are some of the very stressed corporates to whom Yes Bank was exposed -this is from prior to 2014 (the UPA era)," Ms Sitharaman said.
"They are giving instances, saying Yes Bank is No Bank. The so-called self-appointed competent doctors are saying this, they had United Western Bank, forcefully merged with IDBI. IDBI went down, United Western Bank was anyway facing issues…"
The Finance Minister took no names, but her reference was apparently to the digs of Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and former finance minister P Chidambaram.
"No Yes Bank. Modi and his ideas have destroyed India's economy," Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress chief, said in a tweet targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Chidambaram had earlier tackled the ruling BJP's assertion that the previous Congress government created the mess. The Yes Bank crisis "shows complete regulatory failure", he had said.
"I understand the Finance Minister has made a statement blaming the UPA. That's normal for a government living in ignorance. Will she please explain how the loan book jumped in five years from Rs 55,633 crore to Rs 2,41,499 crore", tweeted Mr Chidambaram.
"Who knows, the finance minister may blame the UPA for the miraculous jump between 2014 and 2019!!!"
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