Siam City Bank (SCIB) is planning to raise capital by the middle of 2009 to support an expansion of its lending, Chief Executive Officer Chaiwat Utaiwan said on Monday.

He said the bank is expected to select a financial advisor by the end of the year and new fund injection would come by the middle of next year.

However, Mr. Chaiwat declined to release the amount the bank wanted to raise.

Siam City Bank has cut its loan growth target for 2008 to 8-9 per cent from 12 per cent, and expected to have non-performing loans (NPL) of around 5 percent of its total lending. It reported a net profit of 3.47 billion baht in the third quarter.