Chidambaram to meet PSU banks chiefs on August 18

16 Aug 2012 Evaluate

Amid growing non-performing assets’ (NPA) concerns, newly appointed Finance Minister P Chidambaram will hold a meeting for conducting quarterly review of Public Sector Banks (PSB’s) on August 18. The meeting, which is expected to take on board, issues such as NPAs, agriculture loans, credit to the infrastructure sector and matters related to human resource, comes in the backdrop of the slowing economy growth, higher inflation and policy paralysis. Heads of public sector financial institutions like NABARD, SIDBI, NHB, IIFCL and Exim Bank are reportedly expected to attend the meeting with the finance minister.

Back on macro’s, hit by higher interest rates and global down turn, India’s economy grew to at a near-decade low of 5.3% in the January-March quarter. Meanwhile, industrial growth, as measured by IIP, contracted 1.8% for the month of June, against the growth figure of 2.5% in May. However, in a bit of relief, the wholesale price index (WPI), India's main inflation gauge, unexpectedly slipped to 6.87% for the month of July, its lowest since January 2010, as compared to 7.25% (Provisional) for the previous month. Nevertheless, central bank has upwardly revised the baseline projection for WPI inflation for March 2013 from its April projection of 6.5% to 7%.

In a separate development, Finance Minister has called upon a meeting of top tax officers later this month to address the concerns relating to sluggish imports impacting revenues, particularly on customs duty front in the first four months of 2012-13. Finance Minister would be meeting chief commissioners and director generals of income tax, central excise, customs and service tax.

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