The banking sector has been on a growth for the past two years at a 6-7% rate much as there has been a rise in the mobile financial means of transacting money on various telecom platforms. Bank of Baroda has been serving the citizens of Uganda with now 16 branches across the country and staff of 188 with their motto at the helm banking with passion.
The CEO East Africa had an interview with the Managing Director of Bank of Baroda, Ashwini Kumar, at the bank’s head office on Kampala Road on a few things in the banking sector and the performance of banks in general. Below are the excerpts;-
How many branches does Baroda have countrywide and what’s your client portfolio as per 2018?
We have 16 branches countrywide and our client portfolio has increased in the past three years at a 6-7% rate.
Bank non-performing loans have been staggeringly increasing for most banks in the past two years, does it have an impact on the banking sector as a whole given it partly led to closure of one of the major market players in 2016 (Crane Bank)?
The non-performing loans won’t have any negative impact on the economy given whichever loan the bank issues out there`s a countermeasure coin for that money accounted for at the bank and this helps to merge up the recovery area gap which will help banks perform well.
The closure of Crane Bankhad an impact on the economy, do you foresee more banks winding down in the near future?
No not at all. The banks won`t close there`s no such news in the media, the banking sector is stable and the closure of Crane Bank has rather given us an insight to work as per the requirements of the banking sector regulator. Currently, Crane Bank falls under management of defcuBank
How did the past banking year go for Bank of Baroda and what`s your take on the entry of agency banking in the sector?
Agency banking is a requirement for the sector. We will reach the entire population in the next five years with such new developments that are being put in place currently and we congratulate the banking association this move is going to boost the economy as we shall have more financial inclusion.
