Bankers feel that credit growth, which had been sluggish during the first quarter of the current fiscal, has improved during the second quarter.
The deputy chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA), AK Khandelwal who is also the CMD of Bank of Baroda, told reporters in Mumbai on Friday that credit growth which was slow during Q1, is likely to improve during the second quarter which ended September 30. BoB?s credit growth in the second quarter is pegged around 24%. Khandelwal, who had led the bankers? delegation to meet Reserve Bank of India governor, YV Reddy, here on Thursday as a customary pre-credit policy review meet, said, ?We have been provided a document by the IBA on liquidity management and other related issues and we are working on it.?
However, he termed Thursday?s meeting with RBI governor as nothing more than a customary meet as the RBI used to receive feedback on the eve of its review of its annual monetary policy. The credit policy will be announced on October 30.
Meanwhile, BoB is all set to revive its credit card business by the end of the calendar year. Currently, the bank is scouting for a potential domestic or foreign partner to strike a joint venture for the revival of its credit card business, branded as ?BoB Cards?.
In case the bank was unable to find a strategic partner for the project, it will merge the card division with the bank itself. Whatever may be the case, the bank will not change the brand of its credit card business. The total loss incurred by the bank due to its credit card business in 2006-07 was Rs 46 crore.
Khandelwal said, ?We are all set to complete the revival process of BoB Cards by December-end this year through either finding out a strategic partner or by merging the venture with our own bank in case we are unable to find the partner.? The bank has 1.5 lakh customers for its credit card business and it plans to increase the customer base by adding 25,000 new customers by the end of the current fiscal.