BOI to open offices in Doha, Dubai and Beijing shortly

Kochi, May 9 (UNI) Seeking to increase its overseas presence, the Bank of India will be opening offices shortly in Doha and Dubai and a representative office in Beijing this month, Bank Zonal Manager (Kerala) Babu Mathew said today.

Addressing the news men here, he said the bank would upgrade its Shenzen office in China to a branch in July. More over, a branch in Antewerp (Belgium) and a wholly owned subsidiary at Dar-e-Salam in Tanzania would be opened by September. Besides, there would be branches in Pakistan, Johannesburg, Indonesia, Africa and Europe, Stating that this overseas expansion was meant primarily for the benefit of NRIs, Mr Mathew said the Bank of India had registered an increase of 20 per cent in NRI deposits last year and was targeting a growth of 35 per cent this year.

He said the global desposits of the bank, in its centenary year, had reached Rs 93,932 crore while global advances had grown to Rs 66,662 crore. The bank's net profit had surged by 106.28 per cent, touching Rs 701.44 crore in the last fiscal.

The NPAs had come down to 1.49 per cent from 2.80 per cent.

Beefing up its fast track remittance centres, the bank had provided money transfer facilities in collaboration with Western Union at many branches, he added.

In Kerala, the bank is set to reach a business level of Rs 2,500 crore from the present level of Rs 1700 crore, he said UNI ARC JJ 1519