‘Bring poor into financial fold’

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, D Subbarao, said new bankers need to be bold when entering into the real world of banking and should try to improve efficiency to mobilise more savings and investment.

He was addressing students and bankers at the seventh annual convocation of the post-graduate (PG) programme in banking and finance at the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) on Thursday.

Overall 57 PG students passed out on Thursday with five gold medals, instituted by various banks. The State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra had instituted gold medals for students.

Speaking at the function, Subbarao, who is also the NIBM chairman, said poor people should also be brought into the financial fold. “They should also be provided banking facility to achieve double digit growth. It is the aim of financial inclusion and people in rural areas need financial planning,” he said.

He also stressed upon the challenges ahead for Indian banks for the implementation of Basel-II system, a method to create an international standard that banking regulators can use.

“Even during the financial crisis, the efficiency of Indian banks improved. The quality of intermediation between savers and borrowers by the banks plays a key role to maintain efficiency in the system,” he said.

NIBM director, Asish Saha, spoke about the ongoing training programmes and collaborative programmes offered by the institute.

Chief economic advisor, Kaushik Basu, who was the function’s chief guest, said how the country is now in a rapid growth mode and what has to be done to maintain it. Employees of NIBM, who completed 25 years of service, were also felicitate.