NPAs set to see a sharp jump this year amid Covid-19 pandemic: Experts

Experts, barring rating agencies, expect a sharp jump in non-performing assets (NPAs) of ban­ks in the current financial year (FY21) as individuals and businesses, hit hard by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, start to default.

About 50 per cent of the accounts that availed of the EMI moratorium amid the pandemic, which made things worse in an already slowing economy, are expected to be restructured, said former financial services secretary R Gopalan.

Of these accounts that would undergo restructuring, one-third, or Rs 6-9 trillion, would turn into NPAs, he said.

D K Mittal, also a former financial services secretary, estimated gross