Finance Minister Sitharaman to Meet Top Bosses of Banks on Credit Offtake Issue

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) on Monday to discuss various issues, including progress on credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the economy.

The meeting is expected to review fund flow to stressed NBFC and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) sectors, sources said.

Banks are expected to present report card on partial credit guarantee scheme and fund raising from market to enhance their capital base.

The Centre in August issued guidelines on operationalising Rs 1 lakh crore partial guarantee scheme under which PSBs can purchase high-rated pooled assets of financially sound non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).

NBFCs, including housing finance companies (HFCs), came under stress following a series of defaults by the group companies of IL&FS in September last year.

Besides, the meeting will also assess the progress of first phase of outreach programme held across 226 districts across the country.

This will be the second meeting of Sitharaman with CEOs of PSU banks in less than a month.

The first phase of 'Loan Mela' for providing credit to agriculture, vehicle, home, MSME, education and personal categories ended on October 7.

During the annual performance review earlier this month, PSBs decided to undertake outreach exercise in 400 identified districts. Later, the private sector too expressed willingness to join the initiative.

The second phase will be held in 209 districts between October 21 and October 25, just before Diwali.

Additionally, the Centre will also review loan delivery through 'psbloansin59minutes' portal.

The platform has helped reduce turnaround time for loan processes in such a way that MSMEs can get an eligibility letter and in-principle approval in 59 minutes and can choose the bank of their choice.

After the approval letter is received, the loan is expected to be disbursed in 7-8 working days.

Touted as the country's largest online lending platform, the portal was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2018 with an aim to make credit access and banking for MSMEs transparent and hassle-free.

The portal sanctioned loans worth over Rs 35,000 crore in less than four months from its launch.

As on March 31, 2019, more than 50,706 proposals had got in-principle approval and 27,893 proposals had been sanctioned.