Nirmala Sitharaman said the support to small businesses will be strictly in accordance with RBI norms

Highlights Comments from FM came a day after she met with chiefs of PSBs

In Thursday's meet, the FM reviewed the money flow in the system

A number of measures have been announced aimed at reviving economy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that state-run banks will support stressed loans of small businesses till March 3 without classifying them as non-performing assets (NPAs). The government is committed to supporting small businesses without compromising prudential lending, she said on Twitter, hours ahead of the 37th meeting of the GST Council in Goa. The support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will be strictly in accordance with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, said Nirmala Sitharaman, who will address a press conference at 10 am in Goa.

#GSTCouncil meets today in Goa. On my way. Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) September 19, 2019

Govt is committed to support #MSMEs without compromising prudential lending. PSBs shall support stressed MSME loans till 31.3.‘20 without classifying as NPA. This shall be strictly in accordance with RBI guidelines. Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) September 19, 2019

The comments from the Finance Minister came a day after she met with chiefs of public sector banks. In a bid to boost lending, the government on Thursday asked public sector banks to hold loan fairs in 400 districts to lend to desirable shadow banks and retail borrowers.

The “loan melas” will be held in two tranches beginning October 3 to approve loans to any retail or non-banking financial company, Ms Sitharaman said.

At Thursday's meeting, "it was decided that camps in 200 districts will be held between 3-7 October", she said in another tweet on Friday. Each public sector bank will conduct an outreach programme aimed at taking advantage of the festive season, the Finance Minister said.

In Thursday's meeting with state-run banks, the Finance Minister reviewed the money flow in the system and transmission of lower benchmark interest rates to borrowers.

Smt @nsitharaman to address a press conference at 10 AM today in Goa. Watch it live here: https://t.co/KLAEWl9BXJ NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) September 20, 2019

The government has in the past four weeks announced a number of measures aimed at reviving the economy, which grew at the slowest pace in six years in the quarter ended June. A number of measures - from the rollback of higher taxes on foreign investors to a mega bank merger plan - have been announced to push consumption and investments.