Andhra Bank is planning to raise $125 million through foreign currency loans as a part of its fund raising programme, bank?s chairman and managing director K Ramakrishnan said here on Wednesday. ?We can go up to about $300 million, but we are raising $125 mn now. We will zero in on that within a fortnight,? he said on the sidelines of the Banking Conclave, 2008, organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Last year, the state-run bank planned to raise Rs 500-700 crore as tier II capital, but went slow. ?We also thought of disbursing tier II bonds to somewhere around Rs 200-300 crore this year,? Ramakrishnan said. ?But we have to be discrete. We will raise money depending on the requirement,? Ramakrishnan said. Andhra Bank is also planning to take a call on the interest rate on the deposits today. ?Real interest rates after inflation have become negative. It would be raised by 50 basis points,? a top bank official indicated.
The bank is looking at a 20-22% growth in loans and deposits during 2008-09. Last year, total business of the bank touched Rs 85,000 crore, of which advances were to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore and deposits Rs 50,000 crore. Net NPA of the bank is 0.14%, while the gross NPA is 1.3%, one of the lowest in the country. ?We are looking at retail credit in a much focussed manner this year. Education is also a focus area for us,? Ramakrishnan said. Union Bank to raise Rs 8,000 cr through medium term notes.
