Loan shamianas is more about visibly and showing people that the bank is there and it is ready to give credit, said V Vaidyanathan, managing director and CEO of IDFC First Bank.

In terms of credit demand, Vaidyanathan said there was an improvement. He said he met people, who were lending as small as Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000, and they are saying the growth of 30-40 percent is on the cards.

At the grassroots, the economy is showing visible growth but since the auto sector is more in focus, it looks like the growth is not there, he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

The big story for the bank is the consumer story, said Vaidyanathan. Sharing the reason for being excited with consumer story he said, “The recent news of India’s per capita income touching $2000 is an important event and just not another number. The disposable income people have beyond USD 2000 is available for spending and income is going to expand in India. Today disposal stands at 25 percent but by 2025 that will become 35 percent on a USD 3500 per capital economy. So disposable income is going to multiply four times in the next five years, which is a very big thing.”

With regards to real estate space, he said the bank does not have any exposure to the realty space.

When asked if these quarterly earnings the bank would be in the black, he said,” We had eight years of Capital First in the black growing at 40-50 percent year on year profits. I do believe that after a phase of 3-4 quarters when we will still have tepid profits that phase of continuous profits from there on is coming. In the short-term we have deferred tax assets of Rs 2800 core, so when the tax rate has moved from 35 to 25 percent there could be an impact but that is below the tax line at a PBT line, we hope to post a profit.”

First Published:Sept 30, 2019 11:02 AM IST