$3.6 Billion in Hidden Bad Loans Spotlight India Bank Stress
- Shows how deep the rot runs in the banking system: analyst
- State Bank of India is often seen as a proxy for the economy
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India’s regulator unearthed about $3.6 billion of bad loans in the books of the country’s biggest bank, amplifying questions about distress in the financial sector given underreporting by some rivals as well.
State Bank of India on Friday said an audit by the central bank showed soured debt was about 232 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) higher than what the state-run lender reported for the end of March 2017. The biggest private lender HDFC Bank Ltd. had a 20.5 billion rupee divergence, while ICICI Bank Ltd. said -- without elaborating -- that it isn’t required to make disclosures on the topic even as provisions for bad loans climbed. It had reported a divergence in the previous year.