FM reviews PSBs, RRBs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held meetings yesterday in Delhi to review the performance of public sector banks (PSBs) and regional rural banks (RRBs).

During deliberations on the deposit mobilization, she stated that while the credit growth has picked up, mobilization of deposits could further be improved to fund credit growth sustainably and asked banks to make concerted efforts to garner deposits by conducting special drives. She also advised PSBs to have better relationships with their customers for efficient customer service delivery, an official press release said.

The Finance Minister urged the banks to ensure that employees reach out to connect with their customers, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. She also urged the PSBs to explore collaboration to leverage the respective strengths by sharing best practices in emerging areas and equip themselves to keep pace with changes in the banking sector.

While acknowledging the efforts made by the banks to improve the asset quality, Sitharaman advised them to optimize the scope of resolution and recovery offered by NCLT and NARCL.

The issues related to digital payments and cyber security framework were also deliberated in the meeting. The Finance Minister advised that issues of cyber security should be seen from a systemic perspective and emphasized that a collaborative approach between banks, the government, regulators, and security agencies is needed to put in place necessary mitigants against cyber-risks.

In her meeting with RRBs, the Finance Minister urged RRBs—with the active support of their sponsor banks—to also put greater thrust on the clear identification of beneficiaries while sanctioning loans under various schemes such as PM Vishwakarma and PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.

RRBs were also directed to increase their share in ground-level agriculture credit disbursement.