Merina Y. Chishi
Dimapur | November 12
The global financial meltdown notwithstanding, the banking sector in Nagaland is sound and functioning normally without any liquidity crisis. Speaking to a cross-section of senior officials of both the public sector and private banks, The Morung Express has learned that public money including savings and other instruments such as Fixed Deposits (FD) are safe.
So you need not be worried about your bank accounts and other investments. All the leading banks operating in the state gave this assurance of “safety” when it came to public savings and availability of money in the economy. As such, even the government need not be worried about a slowdown in its planned development programmes, said one banker while speaking to this reporter.
In what will come as a big relief for the state’s rural sector, the Nagaland State Corporative Bank (NSCB) has also put on record that it has sufficient assets and security deposits under the Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGR) and depositors’ money are in safe hands. The largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India (SBI) also claims it is not affected by the current crisis except for SBI Mutual Funds, which is determined by volatility of market.
On the other side, while the current global financial crisis may not have had a direct impact on the local economy, financial experts in Nagaland are nonetheless “feeling the pinch.” Although the popular theory is that the state will not be burdened by the global financial meltdown because its economy is yet to be fully integrated globally, some have expressed fears that job cuts, layoffs and a credit crunch will have some impact in the state.
“Those Naga youths who have gone outside for jobs may be forced to return and as a result, unemployment may only soar”, says a media analyst. The other worry is that the credit crunch may impact development programmes in the state and as the local economy is basically dependent on government funding, business and economic growth may suffer.
Even as there is cautious optimism about the current economic downturn, the continuing worry for people in Nagaland is the considerable rise in prices of essential commodities. Interestingly, this is attributed not to the global meltdown but to internal factors—unauthorized taxes, extortion and rampant self-regulated rates. Besides, the local market is down not due to the falling stock exchange but because of insecurity to life and property, it is observed.
Meanwhile former Finance Commissioner and present Nagaland Commissioner, HK Khulu suggested that there should be greater awareness among the public. “Nagas are not bothered about the MRP (maximum retail price) of products and to a large extent, have to bear the brunt of higher prices due to such ignorance”, Khulu says. He pointed out that the Naga public must keep abreast about prices in neighboring states and suggested establishments of necessary mechanisms such as chamber of commerce.
