BoI seeks Rs 2,000 cr fund infusion from govt

Bank's overall requirement for the current year is around Rs 4,500 crore

State-owned Bank of India today said it has requested Rs 2,000 crore fund infusion from the government to meet capital requirement for the current fiscal.

"We have sought around 2,000 crore (capital from government)," BoI Chairperson and Managing Director V R Iyer said on the sidelines of a Skoch event here.

"Bank of India's overall requirement for the current year is around Rs 4,500 crore. And we are looking primarily at the perpetual tier I bond, which is Basel III compliant and then the government also would come in, we are waiting for the provision that is set aside for Bank of India," she said.

The government holds 66.7% stake in the bank. Asked if the bank would go in for the public offer, she said it would not be immediately going in for a qualified institutional placement or a rights issue.

There is no plan for QIP or rights issue in the current calendar year, Iyer added.

Last fiscal, government infused Rs 1,000 crore in the bank.

On asset quality, Iyer said the bank is expecting net non-performing assets (NPA) to come down to 1.9% in view of the recovery efforts.

"Our net NPA is around 2%, we are targeting around 1.90% for the current year because we believe that the recoveries can improve and slippages can be reduce," she said.

The pace of growth in slippage can reduce only when economy picks up, she added.

The bank is expecting a credit growth of 16% while deposits would grow at 18%, she said.

"This is an year of consolidation for us, last year we did (credit) grow by 12 and this year seeing the economic context also and where we are heading we thought let this be a year of retail and SME for the bank," she said.