IL&FS loan account remains standard, says Bank of Baroda

Mumbai: Bank of Baroda on Tuesday said it's loan account to debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financing Services (IL&FS) continues to remain standard at present. The state-run lender said it continues to lend to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs).

"We do have exposure to IL&FS. As of now, these accounts that we have with IL&FS and all other NBFCs are fully performing. Tomorrow what it will be, we will have to talk tomorrow," the bank's managing director and chief executive officer, PS Jayakumar, told reporters here. He said the bank's exposure are balanced and it has enough amount of capital to take care of any stress scenario.

Cash strapped IL&FS is facing serious liquidity issues and it, along with its subsidiaries, has defaulted on various debt repayments. On October 8, IL&FS defaulted on Rs 20.18 crore of inter corporate deposit due that day. There are reports that banks have stopped lending to NBFCs and HFCs on liquidity concerns, following the IL&FS crisis.

Jayakumar, however, said, "We continue to lend to NBFCs and HFCs in line our total exposure to them. Some exposures are increasing. I don't think there is any crisis of confidence with respect to NBFCs."

Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda Tuesday said it has signed 42 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with several companies and government agencies to assist farmers, suppliers, vendors through various financial products.

The MoUs include tie-ups of regional/zonal tie-ups with agri corporates for financial assistance to the farmers, launch of a new tractor financing scheme, and bring automation in loan processing system, among others. Jayakumar said loans to agriculture sector constitutes a major part of its lending portfolio and expects it to grow at 15-20 per cent in the current financial year.

"The overall guidance for credit growth is 15-20 per cent (in the current fiscal). Considering that this (agriculture loans) is a material part of our portfolio, that (credit growth target) can be achieved only through a similar level growth in the agriculture sector," he said. As of June 2018, the bank's total exposure to agriculture sector was around Rs 51,000 crore. It's NPA level in the agriculture sector stands at Rs 5,900 crore.