The country must thank God and the previous Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy for safeguarding the banking system in India from the global financial meltdown, Punjab National Bank's chairman and managing-director K C Chakrabarty said on Sunday.
But he said the worst of the financial crisis was yet to be seen. "We must thank our policy makers, our regulators, as they have insulated us and we are a little bit better. For that, we must give credit to earlier governor of RBI. He has created so much flexibility in the monetary policy that today we are able to roll down many measures.
"I always say that in such a critical situation, if we are not adversely affected, thank only God," he said, exuding confidence that no bank was likely to fall in India.
"I give credit to the earlier regulator. He had given sufficient signal well in advance for the banks to be cautious. I don't think Indian banks are going to fail," he said.
Asked about the present RBI Governor D Subbarao, he said, "All regulators are doing a good job. But previous regulator was criticised a little bit, that's why I said this."
On which banks would suffer the most, he said, "Those who have become more adventurous, those who have over-leveraged, those who have shown more greed, they will suffer."
"We (PSU banks) have never been greedy. We have never over-leveraged. You have called us inefficient. So our inefficiency has saved us. Those who are less leveraged and less adventurous, are in a better position," he said.
Refusing to name any entity, he said: "The most leveraged banks were suffering the most. You know the name. Where you say the best banker award. You have given the best bank award. You have given national titles like Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan. I don't know."