India’s Reserve Bank Panel Recommends Privatizing State-Owned Banks

    A Reserve Bank of India panel has said the country needs to stop propping up the struggling state-run banks and reduce the government’s ownership and influence in the publicsector lenders which still dominate the country’s banking industry. A Reserve bank panel suggested that New Delhi should either privatize national banks or put in place a new structure to keep government officials from meddling in how the banks are run. The panel, formed to review the governance of bank boards and headed by former Axis Bank Ltd. chief executive officer P.J. Nayak, will now accept feedback on the recommendations until June 12. Public-sector banks account for three-fourths of the total lending in India. They have seen an erosion of capital in the last couple of years as a slowing economic growth has led to a surge in bad loans, making them financially....