PSBs sanction ₹6.45 lakh crore loans from March 1 to May 15

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday said that Public Sector Banks ( PSBs) have sanctioned loans worth over ₹6.45 lakh crore during May 1-May 15. The approved loans pertained to 54.96 lakh accounts from MSME, Retail, Agriculture and Corporate sectors.

This sanctioned level of ₹6.45 lakh crore as on May 15 is a "notable increase" compared to the ₹5.95 lakh crore sanctioned as of May 8, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's office tweeted.

This tweet is significant as it comes at a time that when the recently announced ₹20 lakh crore stimulus package aimed at infusing life in the sagging Indian economy failed to live up to expectations of the common man.

It is also coming at a time when pressure is mounting on the RBI to extend bad loan recognition time to 180 days from the current 90 days and loan moratorium by at least one quarter.