OBC eyes up to 24% credit, deposit growth

State-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce today said it is looking at credit and deposit growth of up to 24 per cent each in the current fiscal.

"In the first-half of this fiscal, our credit has grown by 23 per cent. For the full year, we expect a credit growth of 20-22 per cent," Oriental Bank of Commerce's (OBC) chairman and managing director T Y Prabhu told reporters here.

Credit growth has been slightly subdued this year compared to last year but now there are some signs of a pick-up, he said.

"We see some credit growth in sectors such as retail, MSME and agriculture," Prabhu said.

OBC is also eyeing a deposit growth of 24 per cent during the year, he added.

The bank plans to open 97 more branches by end this fiscal.

"We have licences for 117 branches and of that 20 have already been opened. The remaining will be opened by end this fiscal," Prabhu said.

OBC plans to raise around Rs 300 crore in its Tier-I structure in the next few days, he said.

Asked about a reduction in the bank's deposit rates, he said the bank has already cut its deposit rates and they were very competitive.

OBC would take a call on reducing its deposits rates further at a later stage, Prabhu said.

The bank's chief added that the treasury operations had contributed significantly till September.

"Treasury has contributed significantly till September but now we do not expect anything happening in this quarter or next quarter," he said.

The bank was seeing a good demand for its home-loans from Tier II and III towns, Prabhu said, adding, however, that the demand in the metros was subdued.

The bank is offering an interest rate of 8 per cent for home-loans up to Rs five lakh and 8.75 per cent for above Rs five lakh under its festive offer.

"The offer is till December 31 and we will review an extension possibility later," he said.

On the issue of consolidation of banks, he said, "we need to examine the pros and cons of consolidation...It is a long-term process."

Oriental Bank has so far not been approached by any PSU bank for merger, he said.

"We have not received any interest (for a possible merger) from any bank," Prabhu said.