KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Chief secretary Iqbal Khanday on Wednesday skipped presiding the state level bankers committee (SLBC) meeting currently going on in SKICC. Given the absence of top state government officers, the meeting was presided over by Mushtaq Ahmad, chairman J&K bank.
The meeting is tasked to review the performance of the banks operating in the state during the first quarter of the current fiscal. During the quarter ending June 2015, the banks operating in the state have advanced a total of Rs 5801 crores under priority and non-priority sectors. Given the lending target of Rs 23605 crores in the year 2015-16, the banks have achieved the target by 24.58 per cent.
Interestingly, however, it is the state owned J&K Bank that has contributed lion’s share in the overall credit that went into the state systems in the Q1. Of the Rs 5801 crore, J&K bank alone has contributed Rs 4194 crore.
Bank executives said the performance of the lending is proved if compared the same period of the last fiscal. This quarter the banks have achieved a target of 25 per cent in the priority sector lending which is better than 11 per cent of the Q1 of last fiscal. Similarly in the non-priority sector lending, the target was achieved in this quarter by 24 percent which is much improved than 16 percent of the first quarter of last financial year.
However, the performance of the nationalised banks continues to be pathetic. State bank of India has barely lent Rs 298 crore and the Punjab national bank has touched the target to the tune of Rs 425 crore, which is better than government of India’s state bank.
Another interesting facet of the review is that housing sector that suffered seriously during floods has not triggered any better appetite for credit. All the banks have cumulatively managed touching a target of Rs 88.76 crores in rio ritzy sector and Rs 17.56 crore in non-priority sectors. Owing to devastating floods, the housing sector was anticipated to require lot of credit which has not taken place.
