Central Bank of India CEO Kalyan Kumar highlights loan rebalancing at Hyderabad townhall

Central Bank of India MD and CEO Kalyan Kumar addressed staff in Hyderabad, urging a strategic shift in the bank’s loan portfolio from retail and MSME sectors towards corporate lending. He highlighted the impact of repo-linked loans on net interest margins, which have declined over the past year.

Hyderabad: The MD and CEO of the Central Bank of India Kalyan Kumar interacted with the bank staff in Hyderabad in a townhall meeting on Wednesday.

During his address to the staff, Kalyan Kumar exhorted the staff to rebalance the bank’s loan portfolio, which is currently focussed on retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) advances, by stepping up corporate lending.

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The present loan composition with about 60 percent of loans are linked to the repo benchmark. The benefit of the repo rate cuts has been immediately passed on to the customers whose loans are linked to this benchmark.

However, the re-pricing of interest rates on deposits is happening with a lag, which is the reason for decline in net interest margin to 2.89 per cent in Sep 2025 from 3.41 per cent in September 2024.

Kalyan Kumar is expected to have a direct interaction with prospective and existing customers and exporters on Thursday to discuss key initiatives, share organizational updates and explore opportunities for future growth, a bank press release added.