Banks not passing rate cut benefit to consumers due to weak balance sheet: Arun Jaitely

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Banks will pass  on the rate cut to consumers as soon as the balance sheets stabilize, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said on Friday.

While talking to Network 18, the Finance Minister said that banks have not yet passed the benefits of rate cuts as they are still struggling with their balance sheets. He said that as soon as they recover from the impact of loan defaults, they will pass on the benefit to consumers.

RBI had slashed its benchmark short-term lending rate by 0.50 percent in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review in the last week of September, but banks have not passed on the entire rate cut benefit to customers.