Priority sector lending exceeds target

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While Chief Minister Oommen Chandy exhorted the banks to be more liberal while offering loans, the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) has announced beyond the target disbursement of priority sector loans.During the 201011 fiscal, commercial banks in the state disbursed Rs 59,692 crore to priority sector. ''This is 123.28 per cent of the disbursement target of Rs 48,421 crore for priority sector for the fiscal,'' a statement here said.Oommen Chandy, while speaking at the plenary session of the State Level Bankers' Committee meeting, said that the banks would have to be more practical while disbursing loans to the weaker sections, especially for education. Though the meeting acknowledged the Chief Minister's concern, it painted a healthy picture of banking in the state.Out of the Rs 59,692 crore disbursed, Rs 28,602 crore was for the agriculture sector alone, Rs 3,042 crore for the secondary sector and Rs 28,048 crore for the tertiery sector.The total deposits of the commercial banking system in the state as on March 2011 touched Rs 1,61,562 crore. Of this, Nonresident External (NRE) deposits account for Rs 37,690 crore. Total advances on March 31, 2011, was Rs 1,21,982 crore. Total advances and investments in approved securities/debentures was Rs 1,27,429 crore. CD Ratio of commercial banks tuched 75.50 per cent and credit plus investment deposit ration stands at 78.87 per cent.