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Informist, Monday, Jun. 22, 2026

 

--RBI Malhotra: Continue to create conducive fincl system for MSME growth 

--CONTEXT: RBI Governor Malhotra speaks at International MSME Day 2026 

--RBI Malhotra: Fincl insitutions invest to create inclusive credit ecosystem 

--RBI Malhotra: Expect MSMEs to seize opportunity by investing in R&D, tech 

 

NEW DELHI – Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra Monday urged micro, small, and medium enterprises to take ownership of their growth by investing in technology, research and development, and innovation amid evolving consumer preferences and expectations. At the inauguration of a week-long celebration of International MSME Day 2026 in Kerala, Malhotra said he expects these enterprises to seize the opportunity and asked them to engage actively with the central bank through all its instruments--Trade Receivables electronic Discounting System, Unified Lending Interface, the account aggregator framework, and co-lending, among others.

 

The governor said that while the RBI has made considerable progress in meeting the financing needs of the micro, small, and medium enterprises sector in the past few years, it has still not covered the credit gap. "I would confidently claim that we have covered a lot of the gap," he said. "Moreover, we have covered the gap at a fast pace. Bank credit to MSMEs in the last five years grew at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 15%, while overall bank credit grew at a CAGR of 13.7% during the same period."

 

The central bank will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the financing needs of micro, small, and medium enterprises are met fully, he said, urging financial institutions to step up in a number of ways for this. He further called on financial institutions, both public and private, to invest in digital public infrastructure stack. "This will help create conditions for a fundamentally more inclusive credit ecosystem," Malhotra said.

 

He also asked financial institutions to accelerate the implementation of schemes such as Priority Sector Lending, MUDRA, PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi, PM Vishwakarma, and Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises.

 

"MSMEs should not be considered as a regulatory obligation alone, but as long-term business partners whose sustained growth generates durable financial returns and broad social value," Malhotra said. "Relationship banking, deepened and informed by digital data, can be a powerful and humanising complement to technology-led credit delivery."  End

 

Reported by Pratiksha

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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