Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman is hopeful that credit demand is expected to pick up on account of growth in retails segments, improvement in overall macroeconomic prospects and improving financial health of borrowers.
She reviewed the performance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) with their Chairmen & Managing Directors (CMDs/MDs) via virtual mode in New Delhi today. The review meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad and Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Shri Debasish Panda, along with senior officials of the DFS.
During the review meeting, Smt. Sitharaman assessed various steps taken by PSBs in implementing pandemic-related measures initiated by Government of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and readiness to tackle possible future disruptions that may occur due to the ongoing variant of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While appreciating the success of ECLGS, the Finance Minister said that it is not time yet to rest on our achievements and that our collective efforts must strive towards supporting sectors that face interruption due to continued onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic. Smt. Sitharaman also conveyed to the bankers to continue supporting the agriculture sector, farmers, retail sector and MSMEs.
Smt. Sitharaman noted that business outlook is progressively improving in spite of the headwinds from global development and Omicron spread. The Finance Minister underlined that contact intensive sectors may require more support to help them fight against the pandemic.
Union Minister of State Dr Bhagwat Karad said that PSBs are the power engines of our economy and congratulated the bankers for their performance during the pandemic times. Dr Karad said that moving with the times, banking has become more open and customer centric.
During the review meeting, bankers pointed out that PSBs have observed an improvement in the repayment culture in the country. PSBs have performed well and, supported by various policy measures, provided the required impetus to the economy for coming out of the shackles of pandemic induced stress.
