A review meeting to prioritise small scale loans for different sectors was held at the Collectorate here on Thursday with Collector Balwant Singh presiding over it.
The meeting had discussions on small scale short and long term loans to youths in rural areas for self-employment in the sectors of agriculture,
retailing and manufacturing of goods as per the local needs, etc.
The Collector said only 72 banks are there in the rural areas of the district including that of the Gramya Bank. He requested Reserve Bank of India (RBI) general manager Sridhar Behera, who was present at the meeting, to open new banks in these neglected areas on priority basis.
Banks can change the financial scenario of the district, said the collector.
Revealing the banking sector’s realty in Sambalpur, the RBI GM said “The credit rate is only 15 percent in Sambalpur. This rate needs to be increased for the financial upliftment of people in rural areas, in particular and the district as a whole.”
RBI AGM Basanti Rath, NABARD AGM Ramesh Chandra Sahu, among other senior officers and managers of various nationalized banks and Gramya
Banks were present and put forth their valuable suggestions for improvement of banking sector in Odisha.