Corporation Bank eyes CASA ratio of 25%

Corporation Bank is keen to raise its current account savings account (CASA) ratio to 25 per cent by end March 2016, its Chairman and Managing Director S R Bansal has said.

The CASA ratio of the bank is now pegged at 17 per cent. "Our CASA ratio needs to go up further. The aim is to take it to 25 per cent by March this fiscal". Bansal told Business Line.

On Tuesday, Bansal inaugurated the 2300th branch of Corporation Bank at Gurgaon in Haryana.

This public sector lender plans to open atleast 500 new branches across the country this fiscal, Bansal said.

Higher the CASA ratio, better the net interest margin, which means better operating efficiency of the bank. Moreover, current and savings accounts are a cheaper source of funds for the bank.

Bansal said that Corporation Bank would this current fiscal look to better its profitability besides improving the quality of assets.

There is no plan in the current fiscal to offload any of the stressed assets to any asset reconstruction company, he added. "We have decided to manage it (NPA situation) ourselves and do it inhouse"

Corporation Bank had also recently reduced its base rate for lending to 10 percent (from 10.25 percent) with effect from June 1.

srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in


Source : Thehindubusinessline