Swarnkar exhorts banks to spreahead economic index

Bangalore, Apr 24 (UNI) Syndicate Bank Chairman and Managing Director C P Swarnkar today exhorted banks to encash on the Golden Jubilee of Karnataka Statehood to spearhead economic index of the state.

Delivering Keynote address at the State Level Bankers Committee meeting here, Mr Swarnkar, also the convener of the Committee, said the state had performed exceedingly well under all key statutory parameters and requested all concerned to further excel in the coming days to carve a niche in all developmental spheres.

Performance, especially in areas such as credit deposit ratio, priority sector credit, agriculture credit and credit to women, was excellent, he noted.

He said the share of weaker section advances in the total credit had gone up to 10.21 per cent as of December 2005, thereby surpassing the mandatory level of 10 per cent for the first time. It was indeed a befitting tribute to Suvarna Karnataka Year, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Reserve Bank of India Regional Director Devaki Muthukrishnan called upon the banks to continue their efforts in achieving targets set both under financial and new agriculture loan accounts with special focus on investment credit under agriculture.

Relief package for small tea growers, including consolidation of their existing term loans into a single term loan, could be implemented, she suggested.

Senior bank officials, including Chief General Manager B B Mohanty of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Additional Chief Secretary A K Agarwal, attended the meeting.

UNI SR RG RKN1544