The Hindu Business Line : CSB to lend more to textiles sector

The Thrissur-based Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) is working towards lending more to textiles this year even as it is seeking to give thrust for agriculture including the plantation crops in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) portfolios.

`With capacity building and modernisation projects being seriously pursued in the textile sector under the TUFS route, CSB will be expanding its credit exposure from Rs 350 crore up to Rs 500 crore this year, as good units will be able to have their interest rate pegged as low as five per cent or even below for their borrowings under the TUFS', Mr N.R. Achan, Chairman of the CSB.

The bank too feels encouraged to having higher exposure in textiles partly due to the good textiles accounts and the factor of `much lower NPA' in its textile portfolio.

Mr Achan who was present at the inauguration of a renovated branch of the bank in the city on Wednesday saidlast year, CSB advances growth was 17.5 per cent with its business mix crossing Rs 7,000 crore.It expects its businesses to grow 20 per cent during 2007. Its net profit in the current year is likely to be at Rs 40 crore, according to the CSB chairman.

Credit deployment

Mr Achan felt that interest rates could harden by another half percentage point in the next three months but it may not have an adverse impact on lending as the investment climate continued to be buoyant. The thrust will be on agriculture where its credit deployment would be around Rs 75 crore.Its home loan exposure would continue to be at the Rs 260-crore level of last year.

`Our credit deposit ratio at 64.5 per cent, we have still sufficient scope to lend further', Mr Achan felt.