Coronavirus: Pressure mounts on govt to defer PSB merger amid lockdown

Banks working towards merging balance sheets before April 1

Pressure is mounting on the government to postpone the merger of public sector banks amidst 21-day nationwide lockdown which began on Wednesday and will continue till April 13. The merger deadline is set at 1st April, 2020.

According to the chief of one public sector bank, several representations are being made by industrialists to defer the merger, as after the lockdown is lifted there would be tremendous stress on several sectors and individual banks would be in a better position to take a view of the situation.

The chief of another public sector bank also said informally that the proposal