New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday held a meeting with Chairmen and Managing Directors of public sector banks to review their performance. During the review meeting, Finance Minster assessed various steps taken by Public Sector Undertakings in implementing pandemic-related measures initiated by Government of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and readiness to tackle possible future disruptions that may occur due to the ongoing variant of the COVID19 pandemic, the Finance Ministry said.

Nirmala Sitharaman also reviewed the progress of the planned disinvestment of the country's largest insurer LIC. The initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), touted to be the biggest ever in the country's history, is expected to hit the markets by March. While appreciating the success of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme , the FM said "it is not time yet to rest on our achievements and that our collective efforts must strive towards supporting sectors that face interruption due to the continued onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic."

She also conveyed to the bankers to continue supporting the agriculture sector, farmers, retail sector and MSMEs. The Finance Minister noted that that business outlook is progressively improving in spite of the headwinds from global development and Omicron spread. She underlined that contact intensive sectors may require more support to help them fight against the pandemic.

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