Following the Reserve Bank of India’s strict Prompt Corrective Action Framework and the COVID-19 situation, UCO Bank will now focus on consistent and qualitative growth, MD and CEO Soma Sankara Prasad said on Saturday.
“The bank has made profits quarter after quarter. We have a capital adequacy ratio of 14.56% (bank capital related to exposures) versus the required 11.5% and the current reserve coverage ratio (funds held back to cover credit losses) is 91.3%,” he said.
UCO Bank was placed under PCAF by the RBI in May 2017 for violating PCA parameters such as capital, asset quality and leverage, and it was only in September last year that its performance was reviewed and removed from restrictions.
Mr. Prasad explained the growth plans and strategy for challenges in his speech to the media here. He said the bank will focus on the retail business and will prioritize funding under the center’s agricultural infrastructure fund.
From April, the Kolkata-based lender plans to add 200 more branches to a nationwide network of around 3,000 branches as part of its “phygital” approach (physical branches and digital penetration through applications).
Mr Prasad also observed that the housing market showed growth in the post-COVID scenario and believed that UCO Bank’s improved processing time and cheaper home loan interest rate of 6.5%, while the interest rate of the largest lender, State Bank of India, is 6.7%. would attract homebuyers.
“Our very comprehensive mobile banking application is one of the best rated digital tools on the market. The average age of our staff is 35, while the majority of players are in their 45s. Also, there is no negative activism at the bank like there was 10 years ago,” he said, seeing a “bright future.”
As for the challenges, Mr. Prasad said the bank will focus on qualitative growth by motivating its employees, increasing its operating profit, market share and creditworthiness.
