Bengal asks PSBs to hike CD ratio by March 31

Our Banking Bureau

Kolkata, Jan 2: The West Bengal government is giving public sector commercial banks time up to March 31 to improve their current credit-deposit ratio from 41 per cent to the national average of 56 per cent, according to finance minister Asim Dasgupta.

Mr Dasgupta said the decision will be conveyed to banks’ chiefs and regional heads soon. He was talking to reporters after launching the official website of West Bengal Financial Corp, www.wbfc-online.com.

Mr Dasgupta said the government as well as its undertakings will withdraw all its deposits from banks that fail to hit the target by the deadline. Defaulters will also lose the government’s salary accounts.
He said district magistrates have asked to report on the CD ratio of individual banks in their areas. The meeting with the banks’ regional chiefs will be called after the reports are compiled by the finance department.

Mr Dasgupta said it was a matter of regret that 4,200 branches of public sector banks in West Bengal have a total deposit base of around Rs 60,000 crore, while they have sanctioned a total loan amount of Rs 24,000 crore.

Earlier, Mr Dasgupta said small and medium enterprises have a pivotal role in accelerating the pace of industrialisation. "WBFC should play an important role by extending timely credit to the eligible SMEs," he said. He said WBFC has so far extended Rs 768 crore to around 21,000 SMEs. "Of these 21,000 SMEs, 93 per cent are in the small-scale sector," he said.

Citing a survey done under Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), he said WBFC is among the four SFCs in India that have been graded Category A.

"Only four SFCs have been graded Category A -- WBFC, Kerala Finance Corp, Gujarat State Finance Corp, and Delhi Finance Corp," he said.

WBFC’s managing director, Mr SK Sen, said the website provides for online applications for loans. Online sanctions will follow shortly, he said. He said the online facility will reduce the sanctioning time to seven days from up to one month taken now.