India / ‘Every depositor’s money is safe’: Nirmala Sitharaman on Yes Bank crisis

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that there is no need to worry for the depositors of Yes Bank, which has been put under a moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“We have been monitoring the situation. Now that RBI has come up with a plan, a resolution will be found at the earliest. I want to assure the depositors and investors that both the RBI and government is looking into the issue. There is no need to panic, their money is safe,” Sitharaman said on Friday.

“We have taken a course which will be in everybody’s interest. RBI has assured that a resolution will be find as soon as possible,” she added.

The minister also said that though there is a cap of Rs 50,000, the RBI has already announced that if people need more funds for exigencies, they can follow the guidelines given by the central bank.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had said earlier in the day that Yes Bank resolution will be done very swiftly and that 30 days is an outer limit.

“The 30 days which we have given is the outer limit. You will see very swift action from the RBI to put in place a scheme to revive Yes Bank,” Das told news agency PTI.

On Thursday evening, the central bank put Yes Bank under moratorium and capped withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account till further orders. The central bank had taken over the Mumbai-based bank’s board for 30 days amid a serious deterioration in India’s fifth-largest private sector lender’s financial position.

The governor said that the decision was at a “larger level” and not at individual entity level. The move is aimed at ensuring safety of financial system, he added.

Yes Bank shares tumbled 60 per cent as markets took a hit and banking stocks came under pressure after RBI actions over the crisis.