Credit demand is expected to pick up on account of growth in retails segments
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has told bankers to continue supporting agriculture sector, farmers, retail sector and MSMEs as the Government-led collective efforts must strive towards supporting sectors that face interruption due to continued onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic.
Business outlook is progressively improving in spite of the headwinds from global development and Omicron spread, noted the Finance Minister, underlining that contact intensive sectors may require more support to help them fight against the pandemic.
She expects credit demand to pick up on account of growth in retails segments, improvement in overall macroeconomic prospects and improving financial health of borrowers.
During the review meeting with the Finance Minister, held 7 Jan 2022, bankers pointed out that Public Sector Banks (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 shackles of pandemic induced stress.
Of the extended limit of Rs.4.5 lakh crore of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) provided by the Government, 64.4% or Rs.2.9 lakh crore, was sanctioned up to Nov 2021.
Over 13.5 lakh small units survived pandemic due to ECLGS, saved MSME loans worth Rs.1.8 lakh crore from slipping into non-performing assets and saved livelihood for approx. 6 crore families.
In their assessment of overall situation, bankers were confident that PSBs are adequately capitalised and banks are prepared for any stress scenarios in future.
Sitharaman also thanked the bankers for extraordinarily supporting the country from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She attributed the success of ECLGS to the collective efforts of the banking community.
The Minister also appealed to the banking community to observe COVID-19 appropriate behaviour for the safety of their staff and families and ensure that everyone is vaccinated.
In his address to the bankers, Union Minister of State Dr Bhagwat Karad said that PSBs are the power engines of the Indian economy and congratulated the bankers for their performance during the pandemic times.
Dr Karad noted that moving with the times, banking has become more open and customer centric. fiinews.com
