The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has begun scouting for heads of two state-owned banks -- Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India (BOI).
Applications for the post of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for both banks have been invited by September 16.
The position is open to Indian nationals, aged 45-57 years, with an 'exemplary' track record. The appointments will be for three-year tenure.
After an interaction with the candidates, BBB will submit its recommendation to the government, who in turn will take a final decision. An advisory firm may assist BBB to assess leadership competencies and potential capabilities of shortlisted candidates. However, it will play no role in shortlisting of candidates, BBB said.
The top post at BoI is lying vacant since June 30 when Dinbandhu Mohapatra was superannuated, while PNB chief Sunil Mehta will retire on September 30.
State-run banks have been under pressure due to bad asset quality and weak balance sheets. The new heads will face challenges like containing slippages amid fears of slowdown, maintaining net interest margin in light of low credit offtake and strengthening capital adequacy of banks.
BoI that emerged from the Prompt Corrective Action framework in February and has seen some improvement in asset quality. Its gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio eased to 16.5 percent in the June-ended quarter from 16.66 percent in the same period last year. Net NPAs fell to 5.79 percent from 8.45 percent in the year ago period.
PNB also posted lower bad loan ratios in Q1 FY20, with gross NPAs at 16.49 percent (versus 18.26 percent) and net NPAs at 7.71 percent (from 10.58 percent last year).
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