Banks to hold public meets with NBFCs in 400 districts to give credit: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said 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 October 3 and 7 in 200 districts, while the remaining 200 will be covered October 11 onwards, a finance ministry official said.

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 minister also announced that banks have been asked not to declare any stressed MSME loan as non-performing assets (NPA) till March 31, 2020.