Finance Minister Piyush Goyal today vowed to quickly put on track the banking sector, which has been marred by scandals and bad debts that threaten to have repercussions for the broader economy.
Goyal, who was earlier this week given temporary charge of the finance ministry until Arun Jaitley recovers after undergoing a kidney transplant, met heads of public sector banks here today.
"We will ensure very orderly growth of the industry and highest levels of probity and accountability that is expected of public sector banks," he said after the meeting.
Goyal, considered a close associate of Jaitley, has not made a big show of getting additional charge of the finance ministry and largely operates from Rail Bhawan.
Jaitley, he said, was "recovering very well".
"Yesterday I had an occasion to talk to him and take his guidance. He has given me some issues (which) I am following," he said.
Goyal, who is the minister for railways and coal, said the priority is "to ensure that we can quickly get entire banking system on its feet and shed the legacy that was inherited by this government in 2014."
"I must place on record that we are very appreciative of the fact that finally the Reserve Bank of India, since Modi government came in, is ensuring proper banking supervision, is taking action against defaulters, something which I believe under previous governments was not given the kind of serious attention that it deserved," he said. "Indiscriminate lending of the past has caused this distress that the banking sector is facing."
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