The stimulus package announced by the Centre for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) has not yielded the desired results since banks are functioning on a risk aversion mode, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said.
Dr. Isaac told reporters here on Thursday that these sectors had not been benefited as banks had a lurking fear that their rate of non-performing assets would go up and that would upset the capital-debt ratio. The ₹3-lakh-crore package announced for MSMEs has not worked to their advantage.
Out of the ₹50,000 crore announced for disbursal of long-term loans to NBFCs at 4.4% interest, banks have availed only ₹12,500 crore. This was due to the tendency to avert risk, he said.
KSFE to revise rates
The Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) would revise its interest rates for various deposit schemes, Dr. Isaac said. The rate of interest for fixed deposits of senior citizens has been raised from 8% to 8.5%. The interest rate for short-term deposits from 91 to 180 days has been raised from 4.75% to 7%.
He announced a `fixed dividend chitty’ scheme and loan schemes for Non-Resident Keralites and those who returned to Kerala from other States. The KSFE would conduct adalats headed by former district judges to clear the arrears, he said.
