State Level Bankers' Committee meet

Bhopal, Mar 25: The 131st meeting of State Level Bankers' Committee, Madhya Pradesh was held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of K Subbaraman, Executive Director, Central Bank of India at the Zonal Office of Central Bank of India, Bhopal. The meeting was conducted by PC Tiwari, Zonal Manager, Central Bank of India and Convener, State Level Bankers' Committee, Madhya Pradesh and reviewed the progress recorded by banking sector in the State up to December 2007.

In his address, Subbaraman briefly recalled the salient features of Central and State Government Budgets. Subbaraman referred to the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme announced in the Union Budget and hoped that the scheme would help in reviving growth in the agriculture sector, as farmers will have access to fresh loans from banks. Referring to the Budget proposals of Government of Madhya Pradesh, Subbaraman stated that farmers' interests have been given the required attention in the budget. Payment of bonus on wheat procurement for PDS and reduction of interest rates on agriculture loans will directly benefit the farmers. He also welcomed the move to create a special fund for providing guarantee for professional/higher education loans from banks to meritorious students.

Referring to the performance of banking sector during the third quarter, Subbaraman informed that 54 new bank branches have been added in the State in the current financial year. The aggregate deposits of the banks grew by Rs 8867 crore and stood at Rs.82096 crore at a growth rate of 12.11% and total advances during the same period grew by 13.35% and touched Rs 55664 crore of which priority sector had a share of 63% and agriculture advances formed 37% of the total credit.