Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday sought the support of commercial banks for the State government’s drive to attract investments to Kerala.
Inaugurating the first meeting of the State-level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) in the 2023-24 fiscal, Mr. Vijayan said Kerala has a favourable environment for investments today. He stressed the need to increase the credit-deposit ratio of the State from the present 64%. Compared to other States, this is on the lower side, he said.
He also urged the banks to organise one-time settlement schemes for the benefit of the cashew sector and for loans whose repayment was hit due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Commercial banks also plays a major role, as do cooperative banks, in sustaining the growth trajectory in the agriculture sector, Mr. Vijayan said. He also wanted banks to focus more on helping out the MSME sector.
Chief Secretary V. P. Joy, who presided over the meeting, sought measures for increasing the credit-deposit ratio to 75% in the current fiscal. Canara Bank executive director Hardeep Singh Ahluwalia, Reserve Bank of India regional director Thomas Mathew, SLBC Kerala convener S. Premkumar also spoke.
