How Well Have Public Sector Banks Done?

The efficiency of the public sector banks has declined during the 1990s when measured by the spread/working fund ratio. Though the turnover/employee ratio of the public sector banks improved, the ratio for the private and foreign banks doubled relative to that of the public sector banks. The profitability of the public sector banks did improve relative to the private and foreign banks, but they have lost ground in their ability to attract deposits at favourable interest rates, in their slow technological upgradation, and in their staffing and employment practices, which has implications for their longer-term profitability.