FM meets PSU bankers on Wed,to review rate cut

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet heads of public sector banks and is expected to impress upon them the need to further moderate interest rates and increase credit flow to industry.

The broad agenda of the meeting include review of interest rates,credit growth and agriculture loans,official sources said.

Mukherjee had said last month after assuming charge that meeting bankers would be one of his first steps and would ask banks for a “benign plan of action.” “Industry and business have been hurt by the cost of finance… the cost and the speed with which finance can be accessed remains a matter of concern,” Mukherjee had said.

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The high profile meet will also dwell upon infrastructure lending,capital adequacy over medium term and housing and education loans,sources added.

The meeting would also assess the impact of the three stimulus packages announced by the last UPA government.

The meeting will also take stock of the annual financial performance of the PSU banks and financial institutions.

Last week,country’s biggest lender State Bank of India’s Chairman O P Bhatt had said there is scope for 25 basis point cut in the interest rates,while ICICI Bank has reduced lending rates for home,auto and other retail loans by half a percentage point to 12.75 per cent.

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Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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