FM to review govt banks' performance

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will review the performance of state-run banks for financial year ended March 31 at a meeting with bank chairpersons on August 14 in New Delhi. The finance minister may also evaluate these banks’ first quarter results.

Mukherjee may also discuss the performance of regional rural banks given the importance the government and the central bank have been giving to financial inclusion and loans to boost agriculture and rural economy.

Some of these issues were to be discussed during the finance minister’s meeting with bank chairpersons in Mumbai but could not be because of time constraints, a bank chairman said on the condition of anonymity.

State-run banks account for about 70 per cent of all bank loans in the country. Loan disbursals from public sector banks showed a steady trend, rising 22.4 per cent in 12 months to July 2, compared with 22 per cent in the year-ago period.