Canara Bank has guided for a 13% growth in advances for the current fiscal, Managing Director and CEO K Satyanarayana Raju tells Kshipra Petkar in an interview. He says the RAM (retail, agriculture and MSME) credit has outpaced the growth in corporate credit, while the bank still needs to work on growing CASA deposits. Excerpts:
Canara Bank has shown a consistent growth in profitability and an improvement in asset quality. What attributed to this performance and which areas still need more work?
We focused on tech, competitiveness, and CASA. We built retail and MSME hubs, ranking systems, and transparent HR policies. Recovery apps and centralised dashboards improved NPAs. Field staff are using mobile apps for outreach. The strategy we adopted 2.5 years ago is delivering results, but CASA still needs work. We are introducing two-three products targeting farmers and gig workers.
What is the loan book and deposit book guidance for FY26?
The earlier guidance on FY26 loan growth was 10-11%, now it is 13%. For deposit growth, the guidance has been revised upwards to 10-11% from 9-10%.
How do you see the credit growth shaping up in the second half, especially in the retail and MSME space?
Our RAM (retail, agriculture and MSME) book is growing at 17%. I’m sure in the second half also, we would grow around 16%. So, our RAM credit will continue to grow better than the corporate book.
Any reason for the lower growth in the corporate segment?
Opportunities are there, but we don’t want to be part of the interest rate war. We don’t want to compromise on our bottom line. We are expecting that corporate credit will continue to grow at 10%.
What is the guidance for net interest margins for H2?
The earlier guidance of 2.75-2.80% may not be possible to achieve. We expect the NIMs to be at 2.50-2.55% in the third quarter. From the next year, it will start shooting up.
What is your view on the government’s direction on consolidation of public sector banks? Do you think Canara Bank would be part of the next round?
So far, there has not been any direct discussion between banks and the Department of Financial Services. Unless there is a concrete discussion, it is very difficult to comment.
Your term is set to end on December 31. What according to you are your major achievements at Canara Bank?
I thought of making Canara Bank the most preferred retail lender, and I think I am successful on that to some extent. The strategy we laid out three years ago was acted upon with clarity and commitment. We’ve implemented those decisions and made a steady progress — some targets we’ve even overshot, while others are still underway. This is an ongoing process and we remain committed to keep working on that.
