Confident of sustaining asset quality improvement

After attaining a credit-deposit ratio of about 75%, UCO Bank has started working on boosting deposits, says managing director and chief executive officer Ashwani Kumar.

- ASHWANI KUMAR, MD & CEO, UCO BANK

In an interview with Sachin Kumar, Kumar says higher recoveries and controlled slippages led to a significant improvement in the asset quality, which the lender expects to maintain in FY26. Excerpts:

How is credit growth likely to shape up for UCO Bank amid global uncertainties?

In FY25, our credit growth stood at 17.72%, compared with 15.62% the year before. In both the years, our internal guidance was 12-14% and we managed to surpass that. For the current year as well, we are maintaining the same guidance range of 12-14%. There are two main reasons behind that. First, 62% of our credit portfolio is towards RAM (retail, agriculture, MSME) and corporates accounts for the rest. RAM is primarily driven by domestic economic activity and despite global headwinds—tariffs and geopolitical tensions—the Indian economy remains strong.