MONEY
Finance Minister Sitharaman urges PSBs to hold special drives to boost deposits
- IBJ Bureau
- Aug 20, 2024
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting on Monday to review the performance of public sector banks (PSBs) on their financial parameters, deposit mobilisation, digital payments and cyber security framework, in addition to access to credit under financial inclusion and other emerging issues.
During deliberations on deposit mobilisation, the finance minister noted that while credit growth had picked up, mobilisation of deposits could further be improved to fund credit growth sustainably. She asked banks to make concerted efforts to garner deposits by conducting special drives.
The meeting also took note that during 2023-24, the PSBs performed well across all financial parameters as evidenced by improved asset quality with net NPAs declining to 0.76 per cent, sound capital adequacy of the banks at 15.55 per cent, net interest margin of banks at 3.22 per cent and highest-ever net aggregate profit of Rs 1.45 lakh crore with the dividend of Rs 27,830 crore to shareholders.
Improvements over various parameters have also enhanced the ability of PSBs to raise capital from the markets.
Ms Sitharaman also advised PSBs to have better relationships with their customers for efficient customer service delivery. The finance minister also urged banks to ensure that employees reached out to connect with their customers, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
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