PM’s announcement of enhanced access of credit for MSMEs to enlarge scope of institutional credit delivery: Jaitley

New Delhi, Apr 24 (KNN) Recent announcements made by our Prime Minister for the provision of cost effective credit to farmers and housing loans to the poor including enhanced access of credit for MSMEs would enlarge the scope of institutional credit delivery to the hitherto under-banked segments of the economy, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) in Washington D.C.

Jaitley participated in the Restricted Session of the International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) and the Plenary Session of World Economic Leaders (IMFC Plenary) in Washington D.C. on Saturday. 

The event was attended by the select Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The discussions centred on the global economic outlook, the resource base and governance framework of IMF and the importance of inclusiveness in terms of distribution of the benefits from global integration.

He said, “The Government is infusing capital in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to meet their capital requirements in line with global risk norms and to spur credit growth.”

Speaking about the progress of India’s financial inclusion efforts, he said it 282 million accounts have been opened by banks under the no-frills PMJDY so far.

The objective of the scheme is to provide all households in the country with financial services, with special focus on empowering the weaker sections of society, including women, small and marginal farmers and laborers, both rural and urban.

“Attractive low cost life and health insurance and pension plans introduced by the Government have expanded the social safety net for weaker sections of the society. Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) is active in facilitating structured microcredit deliveries to small scale entrepreneurs for productive activities. Supported by AADHAR, the biometric based unique identity system for individuals, the ongoing rapid expansion of digital payment mechanisms will provide large push to our financial inclusion efforts,” he added.

At the system level, Jaitley said the Indian banks are adequately capitalized.

“At the same time, we are deeply aware of the problem of non-performing loans (NPLs) which are in the process of being effectively resolved.”

Policies for resolution of NPLs including optimal structuring of credit facilities, change in ownership/management, deep restructuring of stressed assets and facilitation of speedy exit from unviable accounts have been put in place.

Additionally, the amendments to debt recovery laws as well as the enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 would provide enabling infrastructure to deal effectively with the recovery of non-performing assets (NPAs) in a time bound manner.