Sinha To Meet Bankers On June 19

Finance minister Yashwant Sinha has convened a meeting of public sector bank chiefs on June 19 to take stock of their performance during the last financial year and credit offtake trends in the wake of the continued economic slowdown.

In a departure from the past, Sinha would be meeting the bank chiefs in Mumbai instead of Delhi. With most banks expected to announce their final accounts by the end of next week, their performance during 2001-02 would also be discussed.

Sinha is also expected to discuss the progress on the recovery of non performing assets of 27 public banks, which amounted to over Rs 55,000 crore at the end of the last financial year. The progress on setting up of the proposed asset reconstruction company (ARC) under the existing legislative framework is also going to be discussed.

At his previous interaction with bank chiefs last year, Sinha had announced amid much fanfare that the ARC would be functional soon. He had also announced the establishment of a high-level committee to work out the framework and in his budget speech this year said the first ARC would be functional by June-end.

Issues related to the proposed legislation on securitisation and foreclosure may also come up for discussion. The Bill, which also seeks to develop a legislative framework for ARCs, has been was cleared by the Cabinet but could not be tabled during the budget session of Parliament.

The progress on the issue of Kisan credit cards for farmers and the Laghu Udyami cards for small scale sector as also progress on educational loans is expected to be reviewed.