Nirmala Sitharaman To Meet PSU Bank CEOs On Monday To Review Credit Flow
The meeting with bankers is seen as part of the government’s efforts to prop up the Indian economy hit by the coronavirus lockdown
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold on Monday a review meeting with chief executive officers of public sector banks to discuss several issues, including credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the Indian economy hit by the coronavirus crisis.
The meeting, to be held via video-conferencing, will also take stock of transmission of interest rate cuts to borrowers and progress of moratorium on loan repayments, said people aware of the matter.
The Reserve Bank of India had on March 27 cut the repo rate by 75 basis points and announced a three-month loan repayment moratorium to borrowers hit by the coronavirus lockdown.
The deployment of excessive funds by banks under the reverse repo route may also come up for discussion on Monday, the people cited said. Progress of the targeted long-term repo operations for the NBFC sector and microfinance institutions, and sanctions under the Covid-19 emergency credit line will also be reviewed.
Under the emergency credit line, borrowers can avail a maximum of 10 percent of the existing fund-based working capital limits, subject to a cap of Rs 200 crore. Public sector banks have sanctioned Rs 42,000 crore in loans to the MSME sector and corporates since the start of the lockdown.