Finance Minister P Chidambaram held a meeting on Wednesday with top executives of PSU banks to review the liquidity situation and the performance of the lenders.

Chidambaram, who had said on November 1 that he would ask state-owned banks to consider lowering interest rates, held wide-ranging consultations with the bank executives. These related to the impact of the global meltdown on the Indian banking sector and various steps that could be undertaken to overcome the challenge.

The meeting comes a day after the captains of Indian industry met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded steps for enhancing liquidity and to create an environment conducive to lowering interest rates.

SBI [Get Quote] Chairman O P Bhatt, PNB chief K C Chakrabarty, Bank of Baroda [Get Quote] Chairman M D Mallya, Canara Bank [Get Quote] head A C Mahajan and UCO Bank [Get Quote] CMD S K Goel were among those who attended the meeting, where top officials from the finance ministry and the RBI were also present.

The prime minister said on November 3 that the government was behind the banking system and that no one should fear about the safety of bank deposits in the wake of the global financial crisis and its resultant impact on India.

Also see
Global crisis hits India, be on alert: PM
No job cuts for now, India Inc assures PM
SBI to decide rate cut later this week
ICICI Bank to review interest rates soon
Business chambers' heads meet Chidambaram
Q2 blues: India Inc reports worst quarterly drop in profit
PM to discuss slowdown with exporters this week