Union Bank expects its margins to improve next year

Bank aiming to imrpove CASA level to 31% in next two years

Union Bank of India expects to increase its net interest margins to 2.93 per cent in 2015-16 from the current level of 2.5-2.6 per cent on account of improvement in its current and savings accounts (CASA) ratio.

Executive director, K Subramanyam, told mediapersons here on Friday that the bank was aiming at improving the CASA level to 31 per cent in the next two years and 30 per cent in the next year from the existing level of 28-29 per cent.

“We will continue to grow aggressively on saving deposits at or above 12 per cent,” he said.

Though interest rate cut was expected to increase credit offtake, he said there had been no significant improvement on this front so far. The bank was not expecting the credit growth to cross 9 per cent this year, while it was likely to increase to 10 per cent next year.

Subramanyam, who earlier inaugurated the bank’s industrial finance branch here, said they were expecting to obtain licence for setting up a branch in Sydney in Australia this year. It currently has overseas branches in Hong Kong, Dubai and Antwerp and a subsidiary in the UK. It has applied for licences for opening branches in Shanghai and Beijing. It is planning to recruit 1,100-1,200 people this year.