PNB to set up branch in Pakistan soon

PNB has also received RBI's approval for setting up its offices in UK, Canada, Hongkong and Singapore.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has said it is planning to set up its first branch in Pakistan and is awaiting official nod for the project.

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PNB was awaiting the approval of RBI and Pakistan government to set up their branch in Pakistan, SC Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of PNB said, adding the bank had 25 offices in Pakistan before 1947.

PNB has also received RBI's approval for setting up its offices in UK, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore. The bank is in the process of upgrading its offices in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and London (UK) into subsidiaries.

Gupta also said it would not raise the lending rates till March 2006. "We do not have any plans to increase our interest rates on any kind of lending till the end of this fiscal," he added.

Projecting a growth of 18-19 per cent to be achieved in next fiscal, PNB plans to garner a total business of Rs 2.2 lakh crore by the end of March 2007.

"We will be finishing this fiscal with the total business including advances and deposits of Rs 1.90 lakh crore. And we expect that we will be having a business of Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the next fiscal with growth rate between 18-19 per cent," the PNB CMD said.