OREANDA-NEWS. July 8 2011. The Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India met in Chennai. The meeting reviewed key economic, monetary and financial developments.

Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India chaired the meeting. Shri Y. H. Malegam, Prof. U. R. Rao, Shri Lakshmi Chand, Shri H. P. Ranina, Smt. Shashi Rajagopalan, Shri Suresh Neotia, Dr. A. Vaidyanathan, Prof M. M. Sharma and Shri Sanjay Labroo were present at the meeting of the Central Board. Deputy Governors of the Reserve Bank, Dr. K.C. Chakrabarty, Dr. Subir Gokarn, Shri Anand Sinha and Shri H. R. Khan were also present.

The Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank meets at least once every quarter. The Boardhas scheduled meetings in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata each year. The post-budget meeting of the Board, traditionally held in New Delhi, is addressed by the Union Finance Minister. The other meetings of the Board are held in the remaining state capitals by rotation. The main function of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank is to provide overall direction to its affairs.

The Governor and the Top Management of the Reserve Bank met with State Government officials and bankers. The Governor appreciated the fact that Tamil Nadu has the highest Credit Deposit ratio in the country at 114%. The other issues which were discussed include routing of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and Old Age Pension payments through bank accounts. The reasons for the low coverage of the crop insurance and measures of increasing lending to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) were also deliberated in detail.

The Governor called on Dr. (Kum.) J Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and apprised her of the current macroeconomic situation and the growth-inflation dynamics of the country and of the efforts being made by the Reserve Bank of India to combat inflation. To a query by the Chief Minister about what the State Government can do to ease the supply response, the Governor suggested that the Government could focus on rural infrastructure and providing market access to farmers. The Chief Minister solicited Reserve Bank'ssupport for the State Government’s initiative indelivering pensions through bank accounts. The Governor assured the Chief Minister that he will do so and in particular for launching the scheme in Trichy and Kanyakumari Districts on a pilot basis. The Chief Minister and the RBI Governor also discussed the problems confronting the textile units and the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in Tirupur. The Chief Minister saidthat the State Government is deeply engaged in finding a sustainable solution to the problem in conformity with theHigh Court order. The Governor invited the Chief Minister to attend and chair the State Level Bankers Committee Meeting (SLBC) and the Chief Minister responded enthusiastically to the invitation.