Closely monitoring loan accounts & taking provisions to avoid NPAs: Exim Bank's CMD

With a slight rise in NPAs to 0.61% from 0.45%, the lender is looking at promoters to invest into the business than rely on loans

With non-performing assets (NPAs) experiencing a slight increase in the recent past, the Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) is closely monitoring its loan accounts and looking at the promoters of the companies to put more money into the business rather than relying on loans.

In an interaction recently, Yaduvendra Mathur, CMD, Exim Bank, said that the net NPA of Exim Bank has seen a slight increase from 0.45% to 0.61% and the NPAs have marginally increased in key sectors like steel and shipping.

“Going forward, we have to be very careful in maintaining our portfolios. That is not only a challenge for my financial institution alone. We are closely monitoring our loan accounts and taking the provisions. But this is a challenging year," he said.

"We don't give loans to companies which are not strong and robust. We will be more cautious in lending and we will encourage companies to also not be overleveraged. We are watching for the promoters to put in their own money to do the business," he added. 
 

Speaking about fund raising plans, he said that the Bank has a $6 billion medium term note (MTN) under which it keeps raising funds when the pricing is right.

It has so far raised around $4 billion out of this and another around $2 billion will be raised as and when there is a requirement and the market is right. However, the size of MTN will further go up from $6 billion eventually, he added.

It has last raised around $500 million from the bond market in January, 2016, to be utilised towards long-term credit, according to reports. When asked about the fund raising plans, he said that the Bank would look for the right time for the next round of fund raising. However, the quantum of fund raising would depend on the pricing, he said.