FM Goyal reviews PSU banks performance, advises PSBs on sustainable gains

New Delhi: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has reviewed the performance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) with Secretary, Department of Financial Services Shri Rajiv Kumar and bank CEOs.

Finance Minister highlighted the need for each and every PSB to ensure that recent gains are sustained and better service delivered to all stakeholders. Banks also committed to step up their efforts for financing under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which is aimed at securing Housing for All by 2022.

PCA banks were advised to maintain the trend of improvement in performance, with a view to bringing them out of the PCA framework at the earliest. In this connection, the significant reduction in NNPAs and significant de-risking of their credit portfolios during the current financial year were taken note of.

During the review, it was also underlined that to consolidate the gains made through financial inclusion initiatives by banks implemented so far and deepen it further.

In this regard, banks were asked to ensure that the benefits extended under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana by making overdraft facility and accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards more attractive reach the common people, and to ensure opening of accounts as per expanded focus from “every household to every adult”, with added emphasis on usage of accounts by enhancing DBT flows through these accounts, adoption of social security schemes, promoting digital payments through the use of RuPay cards, etc.

Banks were asked to leverage the pipeline of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) to provide better access to financial inclusion products and services to accelerate the realisation of a digitalised, financially included and insured society.