Current slowdown an opportunity to improve our books: HDFC Bank MD

Its Managing Director and Chief Executive Aditya Puri also informed that a search panel of the board announced earlier will be formed by January, to ensure the chosen successor to lead the bank can work with him for 1-2 months.

The bank had reported a 1.40 per cent gross non- performing assets ratio in June quarter. Growth slipping to six-year low primarily on a slip in consumption has raised concerns on the way forward for banking.

“We will grow, our assets will grow, our liabilities will grow, our swipes will grow, our number of customers will grow and we are very confident,” Puri told reporters here, replying to questions around the economic slowdown.

He said there have not been retrenchments in the industry which should make a lender wary and employment is growing overall, and added that auto majors may have retrenched some temporary workers.

Listing out positives which will work in the economy’s favour like the good monsoon, expectations of more divestments and the sentiment turning positive with the tax cuts, he said the bank sees this as a “major opportunity” to grow.

“We see this as a major opportunity as a bank and we see no strain on our credit portfolio,” he said, adding it has not compromised on its credit standards and is not lending to over-leveraged persons.

Puri said the bank is looking at semi-urban and rural areas as a major opportunity to grow from here on and underlined that one will be amazed to see the kind of inherent demand that exists.

When asked about his successors, Puri said a search panel of the board will be formed by January.