Union Bank expects to restrict NPA below 2%

State-owned Union Bank, which saw its non-performing assets (NPA) swelling in the last quarter, expects to restrict its gross NPA to be below 2 per cent for the rest of this fiscal.

“Till December, we witnessed a 5 per cent slippage in our Rs 4,700-crore restructure loans. But we hope to maintain our gross NPA level below 2 per cent at the end of this financial year,” the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director MV Nair said here.

“The growth in NPA in the banking industry was higher than the growth in credit, but the situation is manageable,” he added, while asserting that growth in NPA was lower than the 5 per cent estimates provided by the rating firms.

Nair was in Jangipur, along with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, to inaugurate the bank's Management and Skill Development Institute, which is in collaboration with Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), as well as a branch and knowledge centre.

The bank has also tied up with a Belgian firm — KBC International — for an entry into the mutual fund business later this year.

“KBC International holds a 49 per cent stake in the mutual fund joint venture and we own 51 per cent. The mutual fund will start operations hopefully from May this year,” Nair said.