The turmoil taking place in the global forefront following downgrading of credit rating of US by rating agency, S&P has alarmed the world and India stands no behind.

Banking and monetary regulator Reserve Bank of India is planning to hold up a meeting with bank chiefs to discuss the position of their respective banks in terms of overseas business and exposure in the global markets.

It is likely that banks be asked to restrain their offshore expansion moves for the time being till the turmoil gets stabilized, said bankers.

"As the economy seems to be fluctuating from region to region, world over, mostly in the US and European countries, the banking regulator would not take any risk of allowing any public sector lender to go for overseas expansion at their own pace... be it offshore banking or overseas expansion in those risk-prone belts where the fear of slowdown has emerged," reported sources.

"The US debt crisis as well as euro zone fluctuation may have cautioned the RBI to take such step in a order to discourage the banks who wish to spread their footprints overseas at a faster pace. I think this situation is short-term as far as Indian economy is concerned. As the banking sector plays a major role to boost the Indian economy, the RBI must review this move with a balancing act," said a top bank official.