The UCO Bank is expecting the forthcoming Union Budget, which will be placed on the floor of Parliament by the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman tomorrow, to be growth-oriented one. Also, they see lots of business opportunities post Budget.

Talking to Bizz Buzz on the sidelines of quarterly financial result announcement Ashwani Kumar, UCO Bank MD & CEO, said, “We do hope that the Budget will be growth oriented one. Moreover, we are hopeful of getting lots of business opportunities post Budget.”

He also said that the bank’s board has already given its approval for capital raising plan to the tune of Rs 4000 crore in the form of fresh capital. Also, the bank has asked the government for Rs 2000 crore fund, he said.

He agreed to the fact that the deposit growth was happening at his bank in single digit (7 per cent) whereas the advances were growing @17 per cent.

The main focus of the bank is on CASA (current account, saving account) growth. He maintained that the bank has given direction to increase its deposit growth to 8-10 per cent, whereas advances growth to take place to the tune of 12-14 per cent. Net interest margin (NIM) of the bank is currently at 2.89 per cent and the bank wants to see it at 3 per cent in the near future.

Meanwhile net profit of the bank for the quarter ending June 30, stood at Rs 551 crore as against Rs 223 crore for the same period of preceding year, registering a growth of 147.09 per cent Operating Profit for the quarter stood at Rs1321 crore.