Swarup Kumar Saha, managing director, said the lender is targeting a Current Account Savings Account CASA ratio of 35 per cent by the end of the current fiscal, and the bank has undertaken various efforts to achieve the goal.
The CASA ratio, the low cost deposit base of the state-owned bank, stood at 33.36 per cent of 35,102 crore at the end of September, 2022. The profitability of the company can earn higher spreads because of the higher CASA ratio.
We are looking at a CASA ratio of 35 per cent. A lot of savings from agriculture income is going to be routed to these accounts post harvest, as he told PTI in an interview, the second half is good for our bank, which is north based.
He said that the bank is focused on mobilising salary accounts and salary deposit to increase the low cost deposit base.
He said that the bank has recently tied up with the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to open salary accounts of their 10,000 employees.
He said the bank has partnered with Lucknow Nagar Nigam and opened 14,000 salary accounts for their staff.
The bank is also expanding its physical presence in terms of branches, which could help in mobilising low cost deposits.
The bank opened three branches recently. Two branches were opened in Rajasthan while one in Bihar.
The opening of these branches has resulted in 1,528 banking outlets across the country.
New Delhi-based bank expects to make a net profit of around 1,100 crore in the current financial year because of the resolution of bad loans.
In the first half of the fiscal, the bank earned a profit of Rs 483 crore as opposed to Rs 392 crore in the same period a year ago.
The bank has given a NPA recovery guidance of 2,000 crore for the current fiscal. 700 crore has already been realized out of this.