New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will chair a high-level meeting of heads of public sector banks in Guwahati on Thursday.
In the meeting, the finance minister will review the availability of bank credit for the people of north-eastern states.
"The finance secretary has arranged for a meeting in northeast, where all of us will be meeting all over again to specifically see what has been done for the north-east," Nirmala Sitharaman told top officials of public sector banks in New Delhi.
In order to shore up a slowing economy, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a mega public outreach plan for public sector banks ahead of last year’s festive season.
According to the plan, public sector banks, joined hands with non-banking finance companies to increase credit availability during the October-November festive season to boost consumption.
“I am grateful that between November and December last year, all of you moved heaven and earth and reached 400 districts and the public sector banks ensured that credit worth Rs 4 lakh crore was distributed to whoever wanted the money,” said the finance minister as she praised the public sector banks in successful organisation of loan fairs (loan melas) across the country.
While appreciating the coordination among the public sector banks in the execution of this mega credit distribution exercise, she underscored the need to repeat the exercise in north-eastern states with the same zeal.
“But I want to make sure that that kind of a spirit with which you showed between November and December last year is there for north-east as well,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the heads of PSU banks.
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