<h1>Finance Minister Stresses Need for Credit Growth, Highlights Government Initiatives and Reforms in Pre-Budget Meeting.</h1> The Finance Minister emphasized the need to boost credit growth, noting a decline in year-on-year credit and deposit growth rates. During a pre-budget meeting with banks and financial institutions, he highlighted government initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which opened over 10 crore accounts. The minister reassured banks of non-interference in commercial decisions and discussed reforms at a bankers' retreat. Suggestions from the meeting included incentivizing digital payments, digitizing agriculture credit societies, and providing credit to Scheduled Caste and Tribe youth. Other proposals included revising regulatory frameworks for non-banking financial companies and discouraging populist loan write-offs.