RBI working for stronger financing structure: Rajan

JAMMU: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is taking initiatives to create a stronger financing structure in Jammu and Kashmir, its governor Raghuram Rajan told chief minister Mehbooba Mufti who wanted banks to help young and budding entrepreneurs to establish viable business units.
Rajan discussed with Mehbooba Mufti a 12-point plan aimed at putting together a stronger financing structure in the state which goes beyond conventional banking. At a luncheon meeting with Mehbooba Mufti, he said the first priority will be to create linkages of finance by overcoming physical barriers which will help in integrating the state with the rest of the country and empowering young local entrepreneurs.
We are taking measurable short-term initiatives. I think J&K is in a better position in making the state easy for financing, which can be a model for the rest of the country to emulate, the RBI governor added. Mehbooba Mufti said she expects the RBI to do more in exerting pressure on banks operating in the state so that small and medium enterprises have hassle-free access to loans. We seek better cooperation of banks in creating ample opportunities of employment for youth in the state, she said at the meeting where several issues related to banking operations in the state were discussed.
Asking premier financial institutions to broaden the scope of their business operations, Mehbooba Mufti said banks need to focus on priority sector lending in the state, particularly targeting tourism, handicraft, handloom, agriculture and allied segments, which have a huge potential to generate avenues of employment for youth in J&K.
She said the states economy needs resuscitation as it has gone through very difficult times in the past few years. We need to achieve RBI benchmark of 60 per cent CDR (Corporate Debt Restructuring) for which banking institutions have to scale up lending, she said, asking RBI to help efforts to create job opportunities for the talented human resource in the state.
Favouring uptick vis-à-vis lending in core sectors, he said banks should look at social sector responsibilities as thrust areas and advance hassle-free loans to bright entrepreneurs and agriculturists. This, she observed, will come as an elixir to J&Ks economy, which is showing encouraging upward trend. The banks need to supplement the efforts of the state government in revitalizing industry and agriculture, she said.

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