Y Tsering launches State Focus Paper for 2019-20 in Meghalaya

A Reporter

SHILLONG: Y Tsering, Chief Secretary, Government of Meghalaya on Thursday launched the 2019-20 State Focus Paper (SFP) for Meghalaya which is a credit estimation exercise undertaken by NABARD annually.

The SFP has worked out a total potential of Rs. 1936.37 crore for the year 2019-20. This is the estimated total credit which can be dispensed potentially by the banking sector under Priority Sector Lending during the next year. The SFP exercise is a culmination of the credit planning exercise which begins at district level, undertaken by the District Development Managers of NABARD in close coordination with multiple stakeholders like State Government Departments, Banks, NGOs and farmer groups.

The 2019-20 estimation of Rs. 1936.37 crore holds a lot of significance for Meghalaya which has been largely credit deficient state with a consistently low Credit Deposit ratios ranging between 30-32% year after year.

Major components of the 2019-20 SFP are Rs. 595.10 crore for crop loans, Rs. 387.93 crore for agri term loans, Rs. 714.93 crore for MSME sector and Rs. 238.41 crore for Other Priority Sector comprising of rural housing, education loans etc. Tsering, while launching the Plan exhorted the banking sector to rise up to the challenge and ensure that individual comprehensive plans are drawn to achieve the targets in a time bound manner. He congratulated NABARD for having finalised the plan much ahead of the deadline and hoped that the banking sector will show a better performance as a result of the same.

Tsering stressed upon the fact that the credit fuelled growth narrative has bypassed large chunks of farming communities in the State and that remedial action is an absolute call of the hour. He expressed huge satisfaction with the multiple development schemes and Missions launched by the State Government over the last one year.

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