NBFCs auction record volume of pawned gold, warn of bigger crisis for banks from Q2 pexels Gold loan-focused non-banks like Manappuram Finance have auctioned a record 1 tonne, worth Rs 404 crore, of the pawned gold in the last quarter of 2020-21, indicating deepening distress among the public due to the pandemic and have warned that banks are headed to an NPA crisis from September quarter when gold loans with one-year tenure mature. During the first wave of the pandemic, among the many measures the Reserve Bank announced to alleviate the financial distress of the public, one was to allow banks to offer 90 per cent of the value of gold in loans. This helped millions of households, as it came amidst a massive spike in gold prices, which had crossed Rs 5,600/gram in the peak of the pandemic last year.