Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's meeting with PSB bank chiefs deferred: Sources

The review meeting of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) scheduled for Monday has been postponed. According to sources, the meeting has been deferred and the new date will be informed shortly. The meeting, to be held via video-conferencing, was to discuss various issues, including credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis.  The agenda also included taking stock of interest rate transmission to borrowers by banks and progress on moratorium on loan repayments.

The RBI had on March 27 slashed the benchmark interest rate by a massive 75 basis points and also announced a three-month moratorium to be given by banks to provide relief to borrowers whose income has been hit due to the lockdown. Earlier this month, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das held a meeting with heads of both public and private sector banks to take stock of the economic situation and review implementation of various measures announced by the central bank.