(FE)
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met top executives of private banks and key financial institutions, who told her that demand was visible in rural India and among small borrowers, and that it would pick up further in the upcoming festive season.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, the minister said no lender told her that there was any liquidity problem, and if there was any slight shortage, it was in the wholesale segment and not for retail customers. Moreover, appetite for credit remains strong in the services sector. In a rather unusual sight, the media briefing also saw an active participation of key private players — from Uday Kotak, CS Ghosh and V Vaidyanathan to Renu Sud Karnad — who spoke at length on consumption in various sectors and expressed their desire to complement the government’s efforts to ensure greater credit flow to critical sectors.
