Officials of the State-Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) feel that the banks could have toted up more money were it not for the private-sector non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) which offer higher rates of interest.

According to N M Mangeshkar, senior manager, State Bank of India which is the lead bank of the SLBC, Goans employed in the Middle East, on board ships and in the tourist industry account for the bulk of the deposits. In all, the Non-Resident Indian Accounts of various banks alone accounted for Rs 1,685 crore last year.

The SLBC has thus far audited 394 bank branches all over thestate. However, with some banks in the cooperative and private sectors yet to submit information, the total number of branches is expected to exceed 400, sources say.

Unfortunately for the banks, advances to borrowers within the state is much smaller than the deposits mobilised. While bank deposits rose from Rs 3,855.04 crore in 1996 to Rs 4,673.04 crore in 1998, advances made by banks amounted to only Rs 1,297.55 crore, Rs 1,517.35 crore and Rs 1,595.27 crore in the last three years.

The credit-deposit ratio in the state's banks hovered between 32 and 36 per cent in the last three years, against 60 per cent stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India. Industry sources, however, say that ratio could be much higher as corporates in the state normally source their funds from the bank's offices in Mumbai and other cities.

But what is worse is than low credit offtake for the banks is the low rate of recovery from borrowers. According to SLBC data, the rate of loan recovery fell to 61 per cent in 1997against 67 per cent in 1994. Bankers attribute this to sickness among small-scale industries which has reduced the rate of recovery from the industrial sector to just 57 per cent.

Unplanned expansion in the hotel industry has also sharply reduced recoveries from the service sector to 66 per cent. With recovery of just 52 per cent from agriculturists, this sector continues to bleed the banks.

Low credit-worthiness among Goa's entrepreneurs has already forced the state's only transnational bank, Standard Chartered in Vasco da Gama, to down its shutters last month. The reason: poor credit offtake.