Finance Minister to Review the Performance of all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions (FIs) Tomorrow

Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee will review the performance of all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions (FIs) in a meeting to be held here tomorrow. This will include annual review of banks performance in the field of agriculture credit, micro, small and medium enterprise credit, housing loan, education loan, deposits, credit deposit ratio, gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) and return on assets among others.

Another major issue to be discussed in the aforesaid meeting include financial inclusion plan for 2010-12 which is high on the agenda of the present Government. The banks will be asked to give their action plan to reach out to those who are still left outside the banking network by using new IT technologies and business correspondents etc. Presently, only 40% people in the country have saving bank accounts. The action taken by the banks and financial institutions to make the announcement made by the Finance Minister during his last Budget speech to cover all the inhabitations of more than 2000 people by providing banking facilities by March 2012, a reality, is also likely to be discussed in detail during this meeting.

Infrastructure lending, lending to minority communities, implementation of Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP), pension reforms and issues related to Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) are also placed on the agenda of the aforesaid meeting.

As the Finance Minister has held four zonal meetings in last two months in different parts of the country with the State Chief Ministers covered under those zones alongwith bankers and representatives of NABARD, RBI, SIDBI, NHB and IIFCL, therefore, action taken on the decisions in the aforesaid zonal meetings are likely to be reviewed by the Finance Minister with the CEOs of the PSBs and FIs in tomorrow's meeting.

Though this review meeting is an annual exercise, yet it is important as it is being held at a time when RBI has tightened the liquidity position in the market through its monetary policy measures to contain inflation and the banks on the other hand have to provide credit to its customers at competitive rates.