New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Thursday that public sector banks will hold meetings with NBFCs and retail borrowers in 400 districts beginning next week to provide credit to borrowers, including homebuyers and farmers.
The public meetings will be held in two tranches. The first will be held between Tuesday (September 24) and September 29 in 200 districts and another 200 districts will be covered between October 10 and 15, the Finance Minister said.
Nirmala Sitharaman said the idea is to ensure maximum credit disbursal during the festive season. Diwali, which falls in October this year, is considered as the biggest shopping season of the country.
During the public meetings, credit will be provided for retail, agriculture, MSME and housing sector, among others.
The Finance Minister also announced that banks have been asked not to declare any stressed MSME loan as non-performing assets (NPA) till March 31, 2020. This would help the MSME sector, she said.
At a press conference after meeting PSU bank heads, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there already exists a circular from the Reserve Bank of India that provides for stressed loan accounts of MSMEs not being declared non-performing assets (NPAs).
Also, banks have identified some NBFCs that they can lend to so that liquidity and credit is made available to those seeking money, informed Sitharaman.
PTI
