Nirmala Sitharaman to meet PSU bank chiefs on Friday; to review credit flow to prop up virus-hit economy

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) on Friday to discuss various issues, including credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the coronavirus-hit economy, sources said. The meeting was earlier scheduled on 11 May, but due to the stimulus package announcements, it was deferred, they added. The meeting, to be held via video-conferencing, will also take stock of interest rate transmission to borrowers by banks and progress on moratorium on loan repayments, the sources said. [caption id=“attachment_8390471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nirmala Sitharaman. Pic courtesy: CNBC-TV18[/caption] The RBI had on 27 March slashed the benchmark interest rate by a massive 75 basis points and also announced a three-month moratorium to be given by banks to provide relief to borrowers whose income has been hit due to the lockdown. Besides, CEOs of public sector financial institutions will also be present at the meeting. The meeting assumes significance in light of the over Rs 20 lakh crore comprehensive economic package announced for the economy reeling under the COVID-19 crisis. The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore at a concessional rate of 9.25 percent through the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Earlier this month, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das held a meeting with heads of both public and private sector banks to take stock of the economic situation and review implementation of various measures announced by the central bank. The deployment of excessive funds by banks under the reverse repo route may also come up for discussion on Friday, sources said. Besides, progress under the targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO) for the NBFC sector and microfinance institutions (MFIs), and sanctions under the COVID-19 emergency credit line will also be reviewed.