No desire to cut stake in PSU banks at current valuations, says Jayant Sinha

The government has no desire to dilute its stake in state-run banks at current valuations, Junior Finance Minister Jayant Sinha said in a television interview on Monday.

Bad loans at public sector banks are at "unacceptably high" levels, Sinha told the ET NOW television channel, echoing comments from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the weekend.

The government had in December approved a plan to raise about Rs 1.6 lakh crore ($25.3 billion) by selling some of its stake in state-run banks by 2019.

The minister also said it was important to establish the country's credibility in bringing down inflation in the long term and that Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan was the best person to decide on interest rates.

(Reuters)