Andhra Bank to raise Rs 300 crore by December

Kolkata, Jun 18: Andhra Bank will raise Rs 300 crore in a massive fund-raising drive by the end of this year taking the dual route of foreign currency loan and Tier II bond, its Chairman and Managing Director K Ramakrishnan today said.

"We will be raising around Rs 300 crore through Tier II bonds by December this year. At the same time, we also have plans to go for foreign currency loan. The permissible limit to avail of the foreign currency loan is 300 million Dollars, out of which we will immediately go around for 125 million Dollars, '' he told reporters on the sidelines of the Banking Conclave, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) here.

To a question, Mr Ramakrishnan said the Bank had targetted 22 per cent growth in business, including deposits and advances this fiscal, taking it to a higher plane from Rs 85,000 crore, as recorded in the last year.

''As of the last fiscal our total business, including deposits and advances, was at Rs 85,000 crore and we expect to achieve a growth of around 22 per cent by the end of the current fiscal, '' he said adding the main thrust of the Bank would be on agriculture, retail and infrastructure loans. He said the Bank had also decided to increase its deposit interest rates by 50 basis points.

Earlier, speaking at the conclave, the CMD said the Centre's decision to write off over Rs 20,000 crore of agriculture loan would not have any impact on the Bank's balance sheet and its profitability.

Commenting on the negligible growth in the education loans in the Banking sector, Mr Ramakrishnan said since there had not been much of increase in the number of credible educational institutions with really good and reputed faculty, the Bankers were hesitant to go for education loan in a big way.

UNI