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Ratnakar Bank Limited (RBL Bank) and its management team have the full support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), interim MD & CEO Rajeev Ahuja said. Ahuja emphasised that the bank has excess liquidity of about ₹15,000 crore, refinance from RBI and bank lines to manage any volatility in deposits.
These observations come in the backdrop of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointing an additional director on the bank’s board and its MD & CEO, Vishwavir Ahuja, proceeding on medical leave.
Rajeev underscored that these developments are not on account of any concern on advances, asset quality and deposits level of the bank, Rajeev said.
Work is cut out
“We want to allay any concerns that any of you may have in this regard. The bank has full support of the RBI. The board has elevated an existing member of the management team to the interim MD & CEO role which should allay concerns on the strategy and smooth functioning of the bank as well as the strength of the overall franchise,” he said.
On the possibility of outflow of deposits in view of the aforementioned developments, Rajeev explained that, “We are running a bank and know the internals of the bank. RBI has given us full support. Obviously, we have to manage the next few days.”
The interim MD & CEO said, “This same team dealt with more trying circumstances of total shutdown, total lockdown, total health issues. Obviously, our work is cut out.”
Excess liquidity
He underscored that the bank is sitting on about ₹15,000 crore of excess liquidity at all times. “The liquidity stayed with us as our deposit accretion was very strong. Our deposits have grown upto 40 per cent in the last 19 months. Almost all growth was in retail deposits,” he said.
“And more than that we have our team, we have our branches which did it for us in Covid-19 when the chips were down a hell of a lot. I think, we will get over this in a few days. And I am very sure that we will come out stronger because all the fundamentals are squarely in place. We have to obviously steel our heart and move forward as vigorously as we have planned to,” said Rajeev.
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