Andhra Bank sets Rs 67,000 crores business target in 2007

Bhubaneswar, Jul 13: Spread over 1,213 branches in the country, the Andhra Bank has set a business target of Rs 67,000 crores by next financial year, according to its Executive Director Kalyan Mukherjee.

Talking to newsmen here, Mr Mukherjee said last year the bank made a total business of Rs 56,400 crores adding that with the credit growth of 23 per cent and deposit growth of 13 to 15 per cent the bank would make a total business of over Rs.67,000 crores.

The Executive Director who launched the new term deposit scheme called AB Treasure, providing an attractive interest rate of 8 per cent to general public and 8.5 per cent to senior citizen at the main branch here, said the bank with 1.44 crores client base would now concentrate more on retail deposit than the bulk deposit.

He said Andhra Bank was also contemplating to open three or four new Representative Office in middle east countries to tap the investment of the Indians working in those countries. The Bank, he said, had opened the first representative office in Dubai in May last which has shown an encouraging response.

Mr Mukherjee said this year the Andhra Bank has been observing a total performance year and all the branches across the country have been asked to achieve the target in all the segments.

Mr Mukherjee also launched the AB Demat Depository Services at the Ashok Nagar branch here and announced that similar services would be soon opened in Berhampur, Cuttack and Sambalpur. He said the Bank had applied for opening of 85 more branches, 5 extension centres and 10 sattelite offices this year out of which 15 branches would be opened in Orissa alone.

The Bank, the Executive Director, said had entered an MoU with the Asian School of Business Management(ASBM) for extending educational loans to the students at a very concessional rate of interest. In Orissa, he said the bank had so far provided educational loan to nearly 1352 students worth Rs 35 crores.

He said the Bank had so far extended educational loan to the tune of Rs 650 crores adding that Orissa stood second in availing the educational loan in the country next to Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Mukherjee announced that the Bank would open four to five more ATM centres in Bhubaneswar and promised that it would make all efforts to improve the CD ratio.

The Andhra Bank, he said, had made a total deposit of Rs 1461 crores and total advances of Rs 483 crores.

UNI