The government today asked the public sector banks to provide more agricultural credit to farmers by expanding their network in rural India. Reviewing the performance of the public sector banks in New Delhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked them to make their financial inclusion plans for covering the villages with population over two thousand. This should be done in consultation with the state governments. He said only 37.2 per cent of bank branches of Scheduled commercial banks are in rural areas and only about 40 per cent of the country's population has bank accounts. The Finance Minister said the agricultural credit to farmers has gone up from 3.66 lakh crore to 3.74 lakh crore this year and hoped it will touch the 4 lakh crore mark soon.The Finance Minister asked the banks to advance 20 per cent more agricultural credit to farmers through the Kisan Credit Card scheme. Later, talking to reporters Mr Mukherjee said the decision of the Reserve Bank of India to increase the lending rates will affect the banking sector.