NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked banks to enhance outreach to NRIs and introduce “innovative deposit products” to sustain the momentum of foreign currency deposits.Sitharaman met representatives of public sector banks and public financial institutions along with senior officials from the finance ministry as she reviewed the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank), External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) swap initiatives.“FM appreciated the encouraging and enthusiastic initial response and called upon banks to further intensify outreach to the NRI diaspora, introduce innovative deposit products and sustain the momentum of mobilisation during the remaining period of the schemes,” said the finance ministry in a statement.Bankers said there has been significant interest from NRIs residing in Singapore, Hong Kong, West Asia, the UK and the US, as they are offering attractive returns on the FCNR(B) deposits, including on five-year deposits, supported by the suspension of the interest rate ceiling on fresh FCNR(B) deposits under the scheme.
