Central Bank of India says not yet decided on branch closures

MUMBAI: State-owned Central Bank of India has not yet decided on a possible extensive branch closure plan this fiscal year, the lender said on Saturday days after Reuters reported it planned to shut some branches to improve its financial health.

On Thursday, Reuters cited sources and a document saying the bank was looking to reduce the number of branches by 600, or 13% of the total, by either shutting or merging loss-making branches by the end of March 2023.

In an exchange filing late on Saturday, Central Bank of India noted the reported branch closure plan but said: “We hereby inform that there is no decision as of now to close a large number of branches during FY 2022-23.” The document seen by Reuters said the planned closures were aimed at improving the bank’s financial performance and could bring an end to close scrutiny by the Reserve Bank of India.

The central bank scrutiny dates back to 2017 as part of a clampdown after some state-run lenders were found to be in breach of rules on regulatory capital, bad loans and leverage ratios. “It is a routine exercise for every bank to re-align/shift/merge/close/open branches on (a) regular basis to achieve corporate business objectives,” Saturday’s filing said. “We assure our esteemed customers and all other stakeholders that their interest is well protected,” it added.