Union Bank to open 500 new branches

Bangalore, Sep 1 (UNI) Public sector Union Bank, which unveiled its new logo today, will open 500 new branches during the current financial year.

Briefing newspersons on the bank's initiative post changing the of its logo, C Abraham, General Manager South Zone-II said 50 new branches would be opened across the country tomorrow.

He said Union Bank was likely to surpass its guidance of rural credit this year as it expected an increased offtake of credit in the agriculture sector.

''After the huge farm loan write off, we expect a large number of farmers coming to us seeking loans. We expect to increase CASA deposits to 40 per cent in two years from the current 35 per cent and rural sector will be the main contributor,'' he said.

The bank had recently recruited 40 agricultural officers from Bangalore and Dharwad agri universities in Karnataka, he said.

Despite a healthy net income margin of 2.63 per cent, the pressure continued. ''We will keep it at an optimum level by increasing our business. This is our goal,'' he said.

Stating that the credit take off was as per the expected level during the first half of the fiscal, he said the bank was expecting a higher growth from agriculture, steel, infrastructure and cement sectors.

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