FM to meet bankers, CMs on credit flow, fin inclusion tomorrow

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to review credit offtake and farm sector lending in a meeting with Chief Ministers of Eastern region and heads of PSU banks headquartered in the region in Kolkata tomorrow.

The meeting will discuss the progress of centrally-sponsored schemes, state-wise flow of credit to the agriculture sector, credit-deposit ratio and loan to weaker section of society among others, official sources said.

Implementation of the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and co-contributory pension scheme Swavalambam, important priorities of the UPA-II government, would also be reviewed in the meeting among others, they added.

Financial inclusion, payment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and revival of short-term cooperative credit are also key discussion points of the meeting.

It has been decided to provide appropriate banking facilities to habitations having population in excess of 2,000 by March 2012, Mukherjee had said in this year's Budget speech.

"The banks have identified about 73,000 such habitations for providing banking facilities using appropriate technologies," he had said.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of slowdown in GDP growth and inflation close to double-digit mark.