Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), a nationalized public sector bank, has decided to discontinue sale of gold coins, a move which is in-line with keeping the government’s objective of curbing gold imports. The decision will be implemented across all the branches of the bank with effect from June 24, 2013. Pursuant to this, it has become the first public sector bank to discontinue sale of gold coins following the government expressing concern over increased gold imports affecting the health of the economy.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram had earlier urged people to resist the temptation of buying gold. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken several measures to discourage banks and nominated agencies from resorting to gold imports.
Oriental Bank of Commerce is a government of India undertaking whose business activities includes monetary intermediation of commercial banks, saving banks and discount houses. The bank’s net profit rose 16.24% to Rs 307.94 crore on 9.45% growth in total income to Rs 4996.01 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as per Basel II norms declined to 12.04% as on March 31, 2013 from 12.25% as on December 31, 2012 and 12.69% as on March 31, 2012.
