Allahabad Bank eyes business of Rs 60,000 crore by '05

Allahabad Bank will target business of Rs 60,000 crore by 2005. The Bank is expecting a short-term growth of Rs 1,000 crore in its credit portfolio before the end of the current fiscal.

All Bank chairman and managing director, O N Singh, who was in Ahmedabad recently, said that the bank will open two overseas branches over next one year. It was Singh's first visit to the city after he took over as CMD of the bank on December , 2003.

Singh said that the bank is planning to issue Visa debit card. "The formalities and all arrangements in this respect is over and we expect to launch the debit card shortly. We are also opening our first offshore banking unit at Noida and we hope that All Bank will be able to mobilise good foreign exchange business through this new outlet," said Singh.

He also said that during the next financial year, the Bank will open two more overseas branches which will be the first step of All Bank towards establishing a presence in the overseas market.

During a meering with the corporate heads and representatives of the various industries, he assured them that the bank would offer competitive rates in respect of their credit needs.

"We are also planning to open new branches in the Saurashtra region and Kutch district, which will enable us to increase our market share in the state," he added.