However, if the macroeconomic conditions deteriorate, the GNPAs can go up to 5.9 per cent by March 2016, FSR warned.

The state-run lenders continued to trail private sector when it comes to asset quality, with stressed advances at 13.5 per cent as against 4.6 per cent for the private sector banks.

Under the baseline scenario, the RBI report estimates that public sector banks’ gross NPAs will rise to 5.7 per cent by the end of March 2016.

In his foreword, Governor Raghuram Rajan said the continued stress, coupled with the consequent pressure on capital adequacy, “is a matter of increasing concern”.

He said these 27 state-run banks have a substantial role to play for “sustainable and equitable economic growth” and highlighted that hence the actions taken by government and the RBI to reduce the stress by solving legacy issues and strengthening governance structures are important.

The report said that while the capital ratios for the banking system improved marginally, the state-run banks have continued to record lower CRAR (capital to risk weighted assets ratio).

The state-run banks may have to bolster their provisions further to improve the expected losses in case of a further deterioration in economic conditions, the report said and added that focusing on governance and management processes, along with a re-orientation of business strategies, will help improve the performance of state-run banks in the long-run.

The FSR also said the stress levels in the top ten banks identified as systemically important are higher than the average for the system and therefore their performance will need to be “closely monitored”.

Stating that the RBI front-loaded potential benefits by delivering cuts of 0.75 per cent in the first half of 2015, the FSR said, “price pressures arising from possible sub-normal monsoon remains a significant risk to food and headline inflation.”

Even though the external vulnerabilities have come down, the FSR said “we should not be complacent in an environment of continued uncertainty over global growth and absence of international monetary coordination”.

In the securities market, the FSR flagged concerns over the rapid rise in algo trading, saying this highlights the need for caution, while on insurance, it said agricultural insurance needs urgent focus.

Flagging the high leverage within the corporates as a concern area, the report said this can hinder monetary policy transmission as corporates may not be able to benefit from falling interest rates due to high debt on their books.

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