The Finance Ministry has set in motion the process of financial sector reforms with the pension reforms Bill likely to be sent to the Cabinet next week and SBI Amendment as well as Banking Regulation Amendment legislation is being vetted by the Law Ministry.
The pension reforms Bill to give statutory powers to the regulator has already been cleared by the Law Ministry, while the Finance Ministry is awaiting nod for the SBI (Amendment) Bill and Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, official sources said.
All these three Bills were introduced by the government in the Lower House of Parliament, but have lapsed with the termination of the 14th Lok Sabha.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill is likely to be taken up by the Cabinet next week, after which it would be tabled in the Lok Sabha towards the end of the session, the sources said.
The State Bank of India (Amendment) Bill proposes to allow the Government to bring down its holding in SBI to 51 per cent against the present floor of 55 per cent.
That way, the Bill, if passed, will make SBI at par with nationalised banks in terms of minimum stake the government can hold.
The government currently has just over a 59 per cent stake in the bank, which it acquired from the RBI two years ago.
