Indian banks will continue to face asset quality troubles till March 2015, and the gross non- performing assets (NPAs) in the system will grow to 4.4 per cent by then, global credit ratings agency S&P said on Wednesday.
"Sluggish economic growth, rising interest rates, and the volatile currency are hurting the country's highly leveraged corporate sector," it said in a note, adding that NPAs will grow to 4.4 per cent by March 2015, from 3.4 per cent in March 2013 due to corporate defaults.
The Standard & Poor's report said infrastructure-related segments, metals and mining, commercial real estate and construction-related sectors will continue to show a weakness. The agency's domestic arm Crisil has pegged the gross NPAs in the system to touch the 4.4 per cent mark by the end of March 2014 itself.