MUMBAI (CU)_The economic downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic caused prolonged distress in the small businesses across India and its effects have seeped into other sectors of the economy, as banks report a surge in loan defaults. Although it was often believed that sectors such as housing loans would be most resilient amidst a global crisis, the mortgage sector has also seen stress, as financial results issued by banks for the second quarter of this year showed that despite the federal government’s push to provide fresh loans to small business owners, they defaulted on their existing obligations amid the global health crisis.
According to the largest lender in the South Asian nation, the State Bank of India (SBI), about…
