RBI panel set up under ex-SEBI chairman UK Sinha submits report on MSME framework
The RBI said the committee will study the impact of the recent economic reforms on the MSME sector and identify the structural problems affecting its growth.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said the expert committee on the MSME sector, set up in January under the chairmanship of former SEBI chairman UK Sinha, has submitted its report to the governor Shaktikanta Das.
The committee held its deliberations including consultations with various stakeholders to come out with the report, RBI said in a statement.
The central bank has not shared the report.
RBI had announced setting up this expert committee at the December 2018 monetary policy announcement.
The committee’s composition related terms of reference had also been finalised by the end of December 2018. At that time, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that though the credit demand is growing at a healthy 14 percent, it is not broad-based.
He added that credit growth to the critically important MSME sector remained ‘muted’.
The RBI earlier said the committee will study the impact of the recent economic reforms on the sector and identify the structural problems affecting its growth.
"The committee will examine the factors affecting the timely and adequate availability of finance to the MSME sector," the RBI said.
The other members of the committee include Ram Mohan Mishra, development commissioner for MSME; Pankaj Jain, joint secretary at the department of financial services; PK Gupta, SBI managing director; Anup Bagchi, ICICI Bank executive director; Abhiman Das, IIM Ahmedabad professor; Sharad Sharma, Ispirit Foundation founder; and Bindu Ananth, Dvara Trust chairperson.
The committee was supposed to review the existing MSME focused policies and their impact and propose measures for leveraging technology in accelerating growth of the sector, apart from recommending the global best practices.
The RBI also recently cut the repo rate (short term lending rate at which it gives loan to banks) for the third time in a row, to 5.75 percent in its second bi-monthly policy decision, adopting an accommodative stance.
The repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will help boost India's economy by making loans affordable to MSMEs, exporters and home buyers, said Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry minister.
