• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Dec. 2

Vijaya Bank has sought Rs 1,800 crore from the Government to increase its Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) to over 12 per cent from the existing 10.41 per cent.

The Bangalore-based public sector bank is expecting response from the Ministry of Finance in about a month and is “sure of receiving additional capital”, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Albert Tauro, told a news conference here on Tuesday.

“Our present capital adequacy ratio is below the 12 per cent CRAR advised by the RBI for public sector banks. The additional capital will allow us to maintain 6 per cent tier-I capital up to 2011,” he said.

The Government might release the fund in tranches as there is no immediate need for the entire fund, Mr Tauro added. “The likely infusion of additional capital is in line with the Government’s decision to help some public sector banks to maintain healthy CRAR,” he said.

“After the infusion of capital by the Government, the headroom for tier-I and II capital would be improved and we will consider raising tier–II capital,” he said.

The bank’s net non-performing asset (NPA) ratio has gone up to 0.74 per cent in the second quarter of current fiscal compared with the year-ago period (0.44 per cent) due to defaults in the housing and consumer loans segment. In the first half of the current fiscal, Rs 280 crore was added to the NPA pool.

“But our business is growing and is profitable as the bank has wiped out Rs 76 crore marked-to-market loss in the first quarter during the second quarter and earned a profit of Rs 4 crore for the first half,” he said.

More Stories on : Public Sector Banks

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line