LIC in discussion with RBI for access to debt data

Mumbai: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) chairman Siddhartha Mohanty on Thursday said the State-owned insurer is ‘in active discussion’ with the Reserve Bank of India and confident of getting access to central bank's debt database CRILIC.

"It's an irony that despite being the largest debt investor, we don't have access to debt or the national debt database CRILIC. We are in active discussion with the regulator for the same and are confident of getting that access," Mohanty said at an economic conclave organised by SBI here. Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILICS) is an RBI-run database of credit exposures of various lenders including those towards non-performing borrowers. Most of LIC's debt investments are in central as well as state governments' debt securities.

The LIC chairman said that not having access to CRILIC data is a risk for the insurer as its liabilities are long-term while assets are short-term. The lack of access to CRILICS tilts the balance negatively towards LIC, Mohanty said, adding that he is optimistic that the central bank will allow the much-needed access to this database as the discussions with the regulator has been smooth and positive so far.