SHILLONG, March 1: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong has expressed his disappointment with the low credit-deposit ratio of Meghalaya.
Speaking at the state credit seminar organised by the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Meghalaya Regional office, Tynsong questioned as to why nationalised banks in Meghalaya have not been able to increase the CD ratio.
“I don’t know what these nationalised banks are doing,” Tynsong said, while adding that in a review meeting, it was found that the CD ratio in the state is not even 24 per cent, “which is very disappointing”.
The deputy chief minister also released the State Focus Paper for 2021-22 prepared by NABARD.
While urging the financial institutions to make investments in the state for which h said that the Meghalaya government will provide all the necessary assistance, Tynsong also asserted that the report is very encouraging. “NABARD has estimated a credit potential of Rs 2,593.99 crore for Meghalaya under priority sector lending for the year 2021-22,” the statement said. The credit estimation for Agriculture, MSME and other priority sectors, including Housing Loan, Education Loan etc, have been pegged at Rs 1,333.86 crore (51 per cent) Rs 930.97 crore (36 per cent) and Rs 329.16 crore (13 per cent) respectively.
“The credit estimation holds a lot of significance for Meghalaya to improve the CD ratio and also to channelise adequate credit to the sectors which are important to the state economy,” the statement said.
During the seminar, Tynsong exhorted the banking sector to extend credit to the resource-starved, people especially in the agriculture sector.
He added that the developmental departments of the state government, NABARD, banks, etc., should work in tandem to ensure that credit flows to the deserving sectors of the state economy and segments of the population.
Principal Secretary C&RD Sampath Kumar and Principal Secretary, Department of Cooperation, GHP Raju, during the programme, maintained that timely credit must be extended to self-help groups, farmers and rural artisans, which will, in the end, help them to take up farming operations and other income-generating activities.
Top officials from NABARD and Reserve Bank of India also spoke during the seminar, which was attended by senior-level officials from the state government, various banks and self-help groups.
Later, micro ATMs were also given to self-help groups and the seminar was followed by an open house discussion.