Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 28: Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Raghuram Rajan, called on the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, here this evening.
Minister for Finance, Dr. Haseeb A. Drabu and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas, were also present on the occasion.
During the meeting, Mufti Sayeed stressed upon improving the Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) of the banks. He observed that enhanced lending in core sectors of J&K economy will help support the State Government’s efforts to rebuild the economy.
The RBI Governor indicated to the Chief Minister that he will convene a meeting of CMDs of all major banks to improve credit flow in the State.
The Chief Minister also discussed in detail the issue of starting innovative schemes for financing Self Help Groups (SHGs) so that the people at the grassroots level benefit from such initiatives.
During the meeting, Mufti Sayeed emphasized upon sanctioning of flexible loans in priority sectors like agriculture, horticulture, tourism and industry. He also called upon RBI Governor to help in extending hassle-free soft loans to victims of 2014 floods.
The issues of hassle-free flow of credit to entrepreneurs, especially under State and Centrally-sponsored schemes, were also discussed in the meeting.
Tomorrow, the RBI Governor is scheduled to meet a high-level State Government team, led by Minister for Finance, Dr. Haseeb A. Drabu.
Meanwhile, the RBI Governor interacted with the representatives of Trade and Industry Bodies and Travel and Tour operators of the Valley.
The representatives urged the RBI Governor to ensure that the guidelines for the relief measures by banks in the areas affected by natural calamities are adhered to by all the nationalized banks operating in the State.
The representatives demanded interest waiver, restructuring of existing loans, sanctioning of fresh loans for resumption of normal business, keeping in view the total liability of the borrower arising out of the old loan where the assets financed have been damaged or lost on account of floods as well as the new loan for repair of such assets. They said that the repaying capacity of business community has been severally impaired due to the flood damage as such relief in repayment of loans has become necessary.
Earlier in the day, Rajan interacted with the students from various Departments of Kashmir University. They asked questions pertaining to various issues of Finance & Economy and Mr Rajan explained them about the working of the RBI.
Regional Director, RBI, D Sethy, Dean, Commerce & Management Studies, Dr Khurshid Bhat and other senior officers of the RBI were present during the interaction.
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