Allahabad Bank sees credit demand picking up

The bank expects special schemes on housing and other retail loans to boost the credit growth during the ensuing festive season

Public sector Allahabad Bank said the demand for credit was picking up and this would enable the bank to achieve 17-18 per cent growth in business for the full year.

The business in the current quarter was looking up with the revival in demand for credit coming from SME and retail sectors while the credit offtake from the agriculture sector had also picked up, said executive director T R Chawla here on Saturday.

Special schemes being announced on housing and other retail loans are expected to boost the retail credit growth further during the ensuing festive season, according to him.

The bank had achieved an overall business of Rs 2.72 lakh crore by March 2012.

It is currently focusing on the retail segment to enhance its share in the overall business to 20 per cent in the next couple of years from the current 15 per cent. To partly achieve this goal, the bank is trying to bring young people into its fold, he said.

The bank is actively going for online tools in banking transactions in addition to debit card and credit card usage.

Meanwhile, the slippage in asset quality is a problem the bank is grappling with. Its NPAs had touch Rs 2,800 crore from Rs 2,500 crore in March, 2012. Chawla said special efforts were being made to increase the recoveries in the NPA accounts.

The bank is expanding its branch network to enhance its reach into the non-central parts of India, including the southern part where its presence is limited, by setting up 250 branches per annum at least for the next three years, according to Chawla.

In south India, the bank’s total business (deposits and loans) stood at Rs 18,778 crore, of which Andhra Pradesh with 47 branches contributed about Rs 5,000 crore.