Bank on it

Public sector, profit-seeking, banks in India have shown a marked increase in productivity this year.

At the aggregate level, average business per employee of 16 banks increased from Rs 251.15 lakh during 2003-2004 to Rs 305.02 lakh during 2004-2005. And the average net profit per employee also increased from Rs 2.17 lakh to 2.20 lakh during the same period. Ananda Bhoumik, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings India said, “ Increased competition and the gradual introduction of technology is driving government bank employees to reskill and improve productivity. This should help profitability, which suffered a setback in FY05 on account of lower treasury profits and depreciation of the government securities portfolio in a rising interest rate scenario.”