Asset quality of banks including SBI is a matter of concern: Pranab Mukherjee

MUMBAI: In the backdrop of banks', including State Bank of India's, rising non-performing assets, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said their asset quality is a matter of concern.

"The asset quality of the banks is a matter of concern. Banks have to bring down their NPA levels to the pre-crisis levels which have gone up in the last year considerably," Mukherjee at the annual general meeting of the Indian Banks' Association here.

SBI, the country's largest bank, posted dismal financial results for the fourth quarter of 2010-11. The net profit was dragged by 99 per cent largely because of a sharp increase in provisioning against the non-performing assets ( NPAs).

The gross NPA of SBI rose to 3.28 per cent at the end of March 2011 against 3.02 per cent in FY 2010.

Likewise, bad assets of other banks have also be on uptrend causing concern among investors.