THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Its general manager K.S. Mohanan is leaving on a two-week trip for talks with leading Saudi Arabian bank Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp for entering into rupee drawing arrangements to facilitate speedy remittances into Kerala. SBT currently has arrangements with several exchange houses in the Middle East. Of these four are in Kuwait, three each in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Muscat and two in Bahrain while one is in Qatar. Besides, it manages one exchange house of its own in Muscat and UAE. "My visit is exploratory in nature and there would be no signing of memorandums of understanding (MoUs). Besides talking to Al Rajhi officials, we are also scouting for four new exchange houses to be set up in other Middle Eastern countries," Mohanan told IANS. SBT is shortly expected to launch a new facility for non-resident Keralites for speedy remittances to their home state. "The product is called 'Money Trans' and the service would be provided free for customers wanting to send money home," said Kishore Babu, chief manager of SBT's international banking division. SBT closed the last financial year on a high note, recording a quantum increase of 41 percent in net profit, up from 1.20 billion to 1.71 billion. Its total business has crossed 250 billion. NRI deposits with the bank registered a 16.19 percent increase, from 59.02 billion to 68.58 billion. Advances of the bank also went up from 74.36 billion to 91.71 billion. SBT also plays a stellar role in funding the state public sector. "We have extended 5.5 billion to state public sector undertakings (PSUs) and non-performing assets are a mere one percent. We are keen to give more to PSUs," said Amitabh Guha, managing director of SBT.
Source: IANS