Sops for home buyers, senior citizens soon: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama on Tuesday hinted that sops are coming soon for home buyers and senior citizens amid declining interest rates of the banks.

“In real estate, we have started working on some proposals... we will have an offer for home buyers. Soon we will come to a stage to offer some solutions to them,” she said. The government is also working on “support to the senior citizens... work is going on it”.

She also spoke about reforms in the banking sector in wake of the crisis hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. Nirmala Sitharaman said that cooperative banks in the country will soon face tighter regulation norms, and will be brought under the ambit of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Sitharaman was speaking with The Indian Express Executive Editor (National Affairs) P Vaidyanathan Iyer and National Opinion Editor Vandita Mishra at Express Adda, an informal interaction organised by The Indian Express group.

The growth in the home loan segment has declined in the last quarter and also the income from deposits for senior citizen has also declined due to falling interest rates.

On the collapse of IL&FS and Jet Airways, she said, “I don’t want any more institution falling off the cliff.” She added: “Why we didn’t sense it earlier... it was much too late.”