Sitharaman will soon hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs), which was postponed on Monday.
Sitharaman will soon hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs), which was postponed on Monday. (Photo: IANS)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said Public sector banks (PSBs) have sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.95 lakh crore in the last two months to various sectors.
The minister, who took to twitter to make the statement, had earlier said that higher bank sanctions are indicative that the Indian economy is poised to recover from COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
“PSBs sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.95 lakh crore for more than 46.74 lakh accounts from the MSME, Retail, Agriculture & Corporate sectors between March 1 and May 8, 2020. Total financing worth Rs 1.18 lakh crore was provided to NBFCs,” said Sitharaman in a tweet.
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With the lockdown coming into effect from March 23, state-owned banks opened an additional line of credit of 10 per cent of the existing fund based on working capital limits, subject to a maximum of Rs 200 crore.
“Between March 20 – May 8, Public Sector Banks contacted 97 per cent of borrowers eligible for emergency credit lines & working capital enhancements and sanctioned loans worth Rs 65,879 crore, up from the Rs 26,500 crore sanctioned as of May 4,” Sitharaman said in another tweet.
Sitharaman will soon hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs), which was postponed on Monday. The new date is yet to be announced.
The meeting is aimed to discuss wade range of issues including credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis. Along with this, minister and the PSU chiefs may also discuss stocks of interest rate transmission to borrowers by banks and progress on moratorium on loan repayments.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the nation later today. His announcement may come with a direction to future course of action to deal with the pandemic.
The central government had imposed a 21-day lockdown from March 23 to check the spread of coronavirus. The lockdown has been extended twice, which is due to end on May 17 with some relaxations.
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