Easing of inflationary pressure could lead to cut in interest rates soon.
This was stressed by the Union Minister of State for Finance, Mr Namo Narain Meena, at an event organised by Syndicate Bank to inaugurate 108 branches on a single day.
The minister said that the country's slowdown was a result of the Euro zone crisis and measures taken to tame the high inflation rates. “This would encourage investment climate in the country,” he said.
He said: “We are expecting a 7.6 per cent growth rate, plus or minus 0.25 per cent, in 2012-13, and about 8.6 per cent in 2013-14.”
He urged banks to play a key role in reviving the economy, pointing out that the 12th Plan was all about faster, inclusive and sustainable growth.
Ultra small branches
“Swabhimaan (financial inclusion programme) is a key strategy to achieve this,” said Mr Meena. Public sector banks were making a progress in increasing the penetration and outreach in under-banked areas of the country, he said.
To facilitate better financial inclusion, ultra small branches were being set up in villages which have been covered under the first phase of the financial inclusion programme. About 73,000 villages with population of over 2,000 people are to be covered under the programme by this fiscal end.
The Government also proposes to start e-payments system and roll out Aadhaar (Unique Identification number) tagged payments. This would help prevent leakages in the payment and delivery system, said Mr Meena. “Banks should play an important role in facilitating this,” he added.
Speaking at the inauguration of 108 branches, Mr M.G. Sanghvi, Chairman and Managing Director, Syndicate Bank, said that the bank plans to open 200 branches during the 2012-13 fiscal. Currently, the bank has a network of over 2,700 branches.
With a capital adequacy ratio of 12 per cent and net NPA below one per cent, the bank is geared up to grow qualitatively, he said. “We are on the verge of crossing the Rs 3-lakh-crore business, and we are confident of achieving this in the first quarter of 2012-13,” said Mr Sanghvi.