RBI Governor holds meeting with bank chiefs, discusses credit flow, stability

New Delhi, May 02: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Saturday held meeting with heads of major public and private sector lenders and reviewed the current economic situation in the country due to coronavirus outbreak.

The crucial meet comes a day after the government extended a 40-day nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The governor appreciated the efforts of banks in ensuring normal to near normal operations during the lockdown period.

In the meet, the RBI chief also discussed the credit flows to different sectors of the economy, including non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions, housing finance companies and mutual funds.

Post-lockdown credit flows including provisions on working capital, implementation of three months moratorium on repayment of loan installments, monitoring of overseas branches of bank in view of the slowdown in economies across the globe, stability of the financial sector were also part of the discussion.

The talks were held in two sessions via video conferencing, and were attended by the central bank's deputy governors and other senior officers.

The government on Friday announced that India will now be under lockdown till May 17 with a complete ban on air travel, trains and inter-state road transport for the general public while educational institutions, theatres, malls, hotels and bars remain shut.

The Centre has allowed two more activities in the orange zones. Taxis and cab aggregators are permitted, with one driver and two passengers only.

Inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed, only for permitted activities, with maximum two passengers, besides the driver, in four wheeler vehicles.

The Centre said that all other activities are allowed in the Orange Zones, without any restrictions.

However, States/ UTs based on their assessment and priorities, may choose to permit a lesser number of activities, the Centre also said.