After announcing June-September quarter results earlier this month, the bank said it expects loan growth of 14%-16% for the current fiscal as it steps up efforts to attract deposits .
As per the latest data from the central bank, till November 4, Indian banks as a whole registered credit growth of around 17%, while deposit growth stood at 8.25%.
“As long as the risk is understood and priced well, there is no challenge (in sustaining credit growth)” State Bank Of India President Dinesh Kumar Khara told reporters. “This time the growth is coming at a time when corporate debt is coming down. This also gives us confidence that the path we are on is sustainable.”
SBI has a Term loan Khara said 2.5 trillion rupees ($30.6 billion) is in the pipeline and demand is expected from all sectors.
The lender’s net non-performing assets (NPA) ratio fell to 0.8% in the June-September quarter.
Khara said the bank expected to further reduce bad loans, and further aim to keep the ratio below 1%.