Dear Shareholders,
It gives me immense pleasure to present before you the Annual Report of
our Bank for the Financial Year 2022-23.
At the outset, I am grateful to each one of you for your valuable
partnership with Canara Bank. This has helped this esteemed institution - with a rich
legacy of 117 years - to stand strong with healthy fundamentals and to emerge as a major
Financial Conglomerate with as many as thirteen subsidiaries / sponsored institutions in
India and abroad (as of March 2023). Your continued trust and support have also enabled
the Bank to navigate the challenge posed by volatile global macroeconomic conditions over
the past three years, while continuing to remain at the forefront of the Banking industry.
The global economic outlook continues to remain fragile amidst concern
over slowdown in global economic growth due to: the lagged impact of monetary policy
tightening by global central banks; vulnerability of financial institutions to liquidity
constraints; continued war between Russia and Ukraine; trade tensions and continued high
inflation levels despite moderation from historic highs of last financial year. In its
latest
World Economic Outlook (April 2023), IMF has revised downward the
global growth projection to 2.8% for 2023; lower than its January 2023 projection of 2.9%.
India however remains a bright spot - despite a clouded global
macroeconomic scenario - with its resilient domestic demand; robust rebound in
contact-intensive services sector; revival of manufacturing; investment activity (amidst
Government focus on capex) and a resilient agricultural sector. IMF has projected India to
be the fastest growing major economy in the world in 2023 with a growth rate of 5.9% y-o-y
(higher than 5.2% growth projected for China). RBI on its part has projected India?s
economic growth even higher at 6.5% for FY 2023-24 with Q1 growth at 7.8%, Q2 growth at
6.2%, Q3 growth at 6.1% and Q4 growth at 5.9%.
Together with positive growth outlook, headline inflation is also
projected to moderate further to 5.2% in FY 2023-24 (easing from the peak of 7.8% in April
2022 to 4.7% in April 2023) supported by Government supply side measures and RBI monetary
policy measures.
Such positive domestic macroeconomic development, together with
sufficient capital buffer, improving asset quality and deleveraged corporate balance
sheets have led to robust credit growth. Being one of the premier Banks, your Bank has
continued to show excellent performance in FY 2022-23 too: crossing a key milestone of 20
lakh crore gross global business in the financial year. This stands testimony to your
Bank?s strong fundamentals and improved profitability.
Your Bank?s Vision is to "Emerge as the Best Bank to Bank
with" and towards this end the Bank seeks to offer optimal Banking services through
leveraging its Digital Banking capability. Your Bank has been proactively strengthening
its Digital Banking base and has undertaken innovative steps: including launching a new
mobile banking app "Canara ai1" ; Video-based Customer Identification
Process (V-CIP); online grievance redressal system; "API
Banking" for corporate customers; Global Trade Processing Centers (GTPC) for handling
forex & domestic trade transactions and upgraded internet banking for corporate
customers; to name a few.
Your Bank also recognizes the need to fully leverage the power of data
analytics to provide personalized Banking services to customers along with seamless
digital experience and improved products / services offerings to drive business growth.
Towards this objective, Bank has set up a dedicated Analytics department that uses
State-of-the-Art AI/ML algorithms and techniques to develop machine learning models to
perform tasks ranging from prediction to near real-time decisioning. Bank has developed
50+ models in FY 2022-23 covering areas such as cross-sell / up-sell, customer churn
prediction & retention, NPA prediction, increasing fee income, CASA, digital adoption
among others. Under fraud detection mechanism, Bank has implemented Clari5 EFRM Solution
using AI/ML based scenarios. Along with the above, Bank is also using advanced analytical
models to make personalized offers to customers, resulting in customer delight and
satisfaction.
These initiatives have been receiving positive response from both
retail and corporate customers; the Bank remains committed to providing "Best in the
Industry Banking Services" to our valued customers.
Your Bank is similarly committed to helping drive the economy?s
growth in a sustainable way by being a provider of responsible and sustainable finance.
Towards its Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) framework, your Bank has
constituted an ESG Desk to deal with emerging ESG risks / mitigation. As part of its green
financing, the Bank has several sustainable financing initiatives viz. Renewable Energy
Projects; Compressed Biogas & Energy Conservation scheme; Solar Pump scheme under
PM-KUSUM and Canara Green Wheels scheme for e-Vehicles. Further, your Bank has been
providing financial assistance to for the betterment of society and for supporting
eco-friendly campaigns like ‘Save Soil?, sustainable projects like installation
of rooftop solar, e-vehicles etc.
Looking ahead, there appears to be a positive outlook for the Banking
industry: due to the resilience of growth momentum in the economy, supported by Government
focus on infrastructure development and other priority sectors. Your Bank is poised to
convert these opportunities into sustainable business growth and further improvement in
profitability, while supporting
Government initiatives in Nation building.
I sincerely thank all stakeholders - including shareholders, customers
- for their tremendous support and patronage of the Bank. I sincerely place on record my
heartfelt thanks to all Canarites: whose contribution has been key to excellence and
sustained growth of the Bank. I acknowledge with gratitude support and guidance from the
Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. My appreciation is due to the esteemed
members of the Board, the Auditors, the Legal Advisors for their unstinted guidance,
support and co-operation. I thank the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI),
Stock Exchanges, the investor community and constructive coverage by the Media, for
reposing faith in Canara Bank?s professional prowess and proven capabilities.
Your Bank remains committed to its founding principles to serve the
society at large through its dedicated work force of 84,978 employees and PAN-India branch
network of 9,706 branches along with 12,130 ATMs/
Recyclers as of March 2023. I am confident that the Bank will continue
to achieve greater milestones in inclusive business growth (with focus on priority sectors
including
Agriculture, MSME, Health & Education) and profitability
- with stronger fundamentals, while simultaneously leveraging /
strengthening the Digital base of the Bank. We seek your continued support, patronage and
input in our journey ahead, in taking Your Bank to new heights during FY 2023-24 and
beyond.
Yours sincerely,
VIJAY SRIRANGAN Date: 18.05.2023
CHAIRMAN