The All-India Private Sector Bank Officers' Federation (AIPSBOF), has urged the finance ministry and the Union Government to allow public sector banks (PSBs) to take part in negotiations for acquisitions and mergers of private banks in the larger interests of the economy.

Opposing the proposed merger of Lord Krishna Bank with Centurion Bank of Punjab, T.R. Bhat, President of AIPSBOF, said in a press release that the Government and the Reserve Bank of India were propagating mergers of public sector banks but when it came to the question of takeover of a private sector bank by a PSB, the Government is not allowing it.

The federation claimed that the thrust on financial inclusion can get intensified if banks were taken over by PSBs and not by new generation private banks.