RBI<\/a> had put restrictions including on network expansion and capping Ghosh\u2019s salary before fully withdrawing both, he said the setback helped the bank decide on \u201ccompliance\u201d as the first priority.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is a huge opportunity in the rural affordable housing segment. As a bank we are stabilised. Next five years, we will like to focus on growing housing finance. It is a key focus along with others,\u201d Ghosh said.<\/p>\n
He said housing finance will be a Rs 1 lakh crore book and occupy nearly a third of the Rs 3.5 lakh crore lending book that the bank has targeted. The overall loan book stood at Rs 74,000 crore as of June, with over 60 per cent concentration on micro loans.<\/p>\n
Ghosh said the business has had cycles of good growth, which gets followed with some impact due to changes in the overall environment beyond the bank\u2019s control, and specifically mentioned demonetisation and the current COVID-19 pandemic which led to a full wipeout in collections.<\/p>\n
He defended the over-reliance on the eastern geography, which accounts for over 75 per cent of the overall business at present, and added that while the business grows elsewhere, Bandhan will continue to grow in the east.<\/p>\n
When asked about setbacks like repayments impact due to the anti-CAA protests over the last year, Ghosh said till date, not a single rupee of loan has been written off in Assam and the reverses it faced because of the protests are a part of business.<\/p>\n
With West Bengal heading to elections, he expressed confidence that there will not be a turn to populism which may lead anybody to not pay on their loans ahead of the crucial Assembly polls.<\/p>\n
He said small borrowers prefer paying because they understand the importance of a commitment to repay and do not mind sharing the benefits of a growing business with the financier who helped make it possible.<\/p>\n
After becoming a bank, its rate of lending has reduced to 17.95 per cent from 22.4 per cent earlier and will reduce further as the share of the low-cost deposits will grow, Ghosh said, admitting that in the beginning, getting people to deposit was a challenge because the whole system had been tuned as a model focusing on lending and not liabilities.<\/p>\n
Ghosh said more than the rate of interest, a borrower is more concerned with delivery of simple and timely credit for all.<\/p>\n
Going ahead, its parent is also set to launch its insurance and asset management company businesses, Ghosh said, adding that the bank \u201cmay\u201d turn to its distribution partners.<\/p>\n
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