Budget 2019: Piyush Goyal meets PSB heads on Monday, ahead of budget

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has called the heads of all public sector banks for a meeting on Monday when he is expected to take stock of banking sector`s performance and discuss ways to improve their financial health.

According to sources, the meeting is part of a pre-budget exercise and was supposed to take place last week but got delayed after Arun Jaitley, who was handling the Finance portfolio, suddenly left for the US for medical treatment.

Goyal, who was given charge of the Finance and Corporate Affairs ministries on Wednesday till the period of Jaitley`s "indisposition", would take the stock-taking meeting which would also be attended by Financial Services Secretary Rajeev Kumar.

Sources said the full-day meeting would be led by Kumar for the most part, with the Finance Minister joining towards the evening to take a broader view of the banking sector and their action plan for near future.

The Minister is expected to discuss ways to improve financial health of state-owned banks, their non-performing assets (NPA) position and improving lending to priority sectors including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and agriculture, sources said.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes just four days before Goyal presents the interim Budget on February 1 in the absence of Jaitley.

Jaitley (66) had a kidney transplant in May last year. Even that time Goyal was made in charge of the Finance and Corporate Affairs ministries.