The 54th Annual General Meeting of the Nagaland State Co-operative Bank Ltd. (NStCB), was held on October 20 at Dimapur. At the meeting, addl. chief secretary and finance commissioner, Sentiyanger Imchen, emphasized the bank’s significant achievements and future strategies.
Imchen pointed out the bank’s robust growth, noting a 4.20% increase in total business as of 31 March 2023. Despite a volatile economic landscape, the bank’s Capital-to-Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) experienced an encouraging rise, from 25.10% in 2022 to 26.28% in 2023.
Highlighting the bank’s digital transformation, Imchen remarked on the improved online banking services, mobile applications, and other digital avenues. The transformation, according to him would be an major aim to make banking more convenient and accessible for all members.
However, Imchen also addressed areas of concern such as bank’s loan recovery performance which has been found to be unsatisfactory, resulting in a high Non-Performing Assets (NPA) position of 15.98% as of March 2023.
Stressing the detrimental effects of such a high NPA, he appealed to all stakeholders to assist in reducing the NPA to the 5% limit set by RBI and NABARD and made note of several identified focus areas for the bank in the near future .
Short speeches were also delivered by commissioner and secretary, Zarenthung Ezung, CO. DP and Deputy, General Manager, NABARD, P.Bulte. Earlier, the welcome address was delivered by outgoing vice chairman, Kekhwengulo Lea. Among the business proceedings, the bank discussed the Auditor’s Report for the year ending March 31, 2023, approved the budget for the years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, and deliberated on the revised budget for 2022-23, followed by announcement of newly elected board members Wepe Ritse (Phek), C. Yangchamung Chang (Tuensang), and Zandi Domta (Peren). The AGM was attended by stakeholders, shareholders, bank representatives, NABARD, and state government officials in attendance.