“Conservatively, we expect India’s corporate banking business revenue to grow by around 10% (one year) in dollar terms over the next three-four years, which is 16-17% in rupee terms, given the depreciation.” K Balasubramaniam, head of corporate banking, South Asia, told Reuters on Thursday, noting City Recruitment has accelerated.
He said the 10% growth would be “200 basis points” higher than the annual growth seen in the past few years and faster than many other countries where the bank has a presence.
In the year ending March 2021, City IndiaCorporate banking as a revenue total stood at 85.13 billion rupees ($1.07 billion), surpassing revenue from treasury, retail and other banking as the largest contributor to its business.
According to regulatory filings, revenue from corporate banking includes interest and fees earned on loans to customers and income from trading and transaction services.
Balasubramaniam said volatility in global markets amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has boosted trading with commodity-linked hedging in the past six to nine months, which the bank has hit an all-time high in India.
He said that India is a major contributor to corporate banking revenue in the Asia Pacific region.
Despite the pandemic-related disruptions, India remains one of the fastest growing major economies, with growth forecast to average 7.2% this fiscal year.
Earlier this year, Citi sold its consumer franchise business in India
, It is spun off its consumer business in 12 other markets to refocus on its more lucrative institutional and wealth management businesses.
Balasubramaniam said that in India, the bank has grown its front-end headcount in corporate banking by 10% in the last two quarters.
He said that if the pace of business picks up, the lender may look to increase the workforce further in the next 12-18 months’ time.
Citi’s focus is on channeling credit flows to offshore subsidiaries of Indian companies and capturing flows on trade corridors between India and neighboring countries.
“In 2023-24, more capital expenditure growth is expected and with that the GDP numbers will increase. We may see even better growth as we see GDP (in rupee terms) growing at a doubling (pace),” he said. expect.”