Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday chaired a meeting with chiefs of public sector banks and assessed their readiness to ౠtackle any possible disruptions due to the Omicron variant.
In a tweet, the Finance Ministry said during the meeting with CMDs/MDs, held through virtual mode, the minister also reviewed various steps taken by PSBs in implementing pandemic-related measures initiated by th💙e government and RBI.
"During the review meeting, FM Smt. @nsitharaman assessed various steps taken by PSBs in implementing♌ panꦜdemic-related measures initiated by GoI and RBI and readiness to tackle possible future disruptions that may occur due to the ongoing variants of the #COVID19 pandemic," it tweeted.
The ongoing third wave to the highly infectious Omicron variant of coronavirus has led tꦆo various domestic rating agencies lowering India's growth forecast for the current fiscal.
India R🐼atings and Research cut its forecast to 9.3 per cent, from 9.4 per cent earlier, while Brickwork Rati🦄ngs has revised its estimates to 8.5-9 per cent from 10 per cent.
While appreciating the success of ECLGS, the Finance Minister said it is not time yet ༺to rest on our achievements, and that our collective efforts must strive towards supporting sectors that face interruption due to the contin🐻ued onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sitharaman also conveyed to the bankers to continue supporting the agriculture ꦺsector, farmers, retail sector and MSMEs, according to the statement.
Sitharaman noted that business outlook i✱s progressively imp💧roving despite the headwinds from global development and Omicron spread.
The Finance Minister underlined that contact intensive sectors may require more s𝓰upporꦚt to help them fight against the pandemic.
She also said that credit demand is expected to pick up on account of growth in retail segments, improvement in overall macroeconomic prospects and improving financial health of borrowers, as per the stat♔ement.
Under Credit Outreachꩲ Programme laun꧑ched in October 2021, PSBs have sanctioned an aggregate loan amount of Rs 61,268 crore.
Of the extended limit of Rs 4.5 lakh crore of ECLGS ( launched in May 2020 to provide relief, particularly to the MSME sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic), 64.4 per cent or Rs 2.9 lakh crore, sanctioned up to November♈ 2021.
Over 13.5 lakh small units survived pand🌠emic due to ECLGS, saved MSME loans worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore from slippi🧸ng into non-performing assets, and saved livelihood for approximately six crore families, the ministry said.
India on Friday reported 1,17,100 new single day Covid-19 infections and 302 fatalities. 3,007 cases of Omicron va꧋riant of coronavirus detected across 27 states, UTs so far.
