PSU banks to launch new products in 3-4 months to ramp up credit growth: Banking Secretary

New Delhi: Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju on Tuesday said public sector banks will unveil new products in the next few months to improve credit growth.

"We are actually committed to enhancing, and we want to push as much credit as possible because we have a huge number of young people," he said while addressing the Financial Inclusion and Fintech Summit organised by CII.

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Public sector banks are going to launch new products in the next 3-4 months to push credit for all sectors, including MSME, he said.

Over the last few years, the government has already taken multiple steps to improve credit availability to small borrowers, including announcing a new credit model in the Budget to lend to borrowers with no previous financial records.

Though the banking sector is robust, Nagaraju said rising digital frauds are posing a risk to financial sector stability, and banks should focus on addressing this challenge.

Both digital innovations and financial literacy will help mitigate this, he added.

Speaking on the sidelines, Nagaraju also said the Banking Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament during the monsoon session will likely be moved in the ongoing winter session.

The amendments are aimed at bringing changes to banking regulations, including redefining substantial interest for directors, increasing the number of nominees for bank deposits and changing compliance reporting dates.

Speaking on Fintech, he said India is the third largest country in terms of startups, and about 13,000 such entities are working in the space.

The government remains committed to the goal of financial inclusion and it is working closely with the fintech industry to attain greater inclusivity, especially in under-penetrated areas.

"The government is making a lot of efforts to foster ease of doing business and reduce compliance burden for the Fintech companies," he noted.

He underscored the government's continuous endeavour to provide a facilitating ecosystem to the fintech industry, including robust digital infrastructure and schemes like PM Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana, which could bring huge opportunities for the industry.

"A fine balance is required between fostering innovation and protecting the regulatory system’s integrity," he cautioned.

Speaking on the occasion, Nabard Chairman Shaji KV emphasised the need to bring about technological transformation in a more democratic manner, especially in the rural economy.

While bigger banks have benefited from greater digitisation, cooperative banks and regional rural banks may not have reaped the benefits of digitisation to a similar extent, Shaji added.

Given that these banks may not have sufficient funds to invest in new technologies, it is important that all stakeholders make a greater effort to include RRBs and cooperative banks in new digital endeavours, he said.

In this context, he recommended that the fintech companies could capitalise on recently announced government schemes to bring in enhanced equitability of growth in the country.

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