Bank of Maharashtra to offload Rs 9,000 crore bulk deposits by March 2012

KOLKATA: Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) is planning to offload its entire chunk of bulk deposits of Rs 9,000 crore by March next year to control cost and preserve margin, bank chairman and managing director Anup Sankar Bhattacharya told ET.

Banks are facing rising cost of deposit as Reserve Bank of India following a tight monetary policy by raising interest rate to tame inflation.

BoM's cost of deposit stands at 5.88% while its net interest margin being at 3.18%. "We would lime to maintain NIM at 3.15-3.18% level," Bhattacharya said.

Having decided to offload bulk deposit, the Pune-based bank's deposit growth will be moderate this year at 15%. It aims to grow its advances by 18% in 2011-12.

Mr Bhattacharya said his bank has requested the government for an equity infusion of Rs 800 crore to keep tier 1 capital above 8%. "This would take care of our growth till March 2012," the CMD said. BoM has its capital adequacy ratio at 13.35%.

Source: Economic Times