Date:18/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/18/stories/2008051855841700.htm

Business

‘Preserve banks with local commitment’

Staff Reporter

Thrissur: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has said that banks rooted in the local milieu and committed to local development should be preserved at any cost.

He was addressing a seminar on ‘Future of Private Banks,’ organised by the Bank Employees’ Federation of India, here on Saturday.

“The State should have alternative development strategies.

The merger of State cooperative and district cooperative banks can create the biggest bank in the State. We should draw inspiration from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which plays a major role in the development of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.