Jaitley to Meet Public Sector Bank Chiefs on March 5

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet heads of public sector banks on March 5 to review credit offtake as well as the progress made under the Jan Dhan Yojana.
     
The quarterly review meeting, to be chaired by Mr Jaitley, will also be attended by heads of public sector financial institutions such as Nabard and NHB. Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia would be present at the meeting.
     
The meeting would review various key financial sector issues like credit offtake in the economy, priority sector lending and progress made under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), a Finance Ministry statement said.
     
Improving the performance of the PSBs and financial institutions, including through steps like capital infusion, would also be discussed in the meeting.
     
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 28 launched the PMJDY scheme for promoting financial inclusion across the country. As of January 17, a record 11.50 crore bank accounts had been opened under the scheme.
     
As for infusing capital in state-owned banks, government has earmarked Rs 11,200 crore for the current fiscal ending March 31. As the first tranche, it will soon infuse Rs 6,990 crore in nine lenders including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank.
     
The government has adopted new criteria under which more efficient banks get rewarded with extra capital infusion to help them further strengthen their position.