Banks told to be generous with loans

 
Yeddyurappa met the representatives of major nationalised banks and co-operative banks on Wednesday to discuss construction of houses in flood affected areas.

Briefing the press after the meeting on Wednesday, the CM said he had urged the banks to conduct loan melas in the affected districts at the earliest. He also requested the banks to provide loan waivers and write off debts in special cases besides extending loan terms and providing zero-balance account facilities. Yeddyurappa said the banks should also co-operate by providing attractive interest rates to those who wish to borrow.

Ajay Seth, secretary of Finance Department said that banks had agreed to provide loan for construction of houses either damaged or collapsed in the floods at lower interest rates. At times of natural disasters like floods banks could provide loan up to a maximum of Rs 20,000 for an individual with interest rate of 4 per cent.

The convener of the state level bankers’ committee had taken the responsibility to workout a policy on providing loans at low interest rates. The policy would be finalised after discussing with RBI. The same would be adopted by all banks, he said.