ICICI Bank rules out foreign buyouts

The country's largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank on Monday ruled out any acquisition abroad and said it would wait for another 2-4 weeks to decide on whether to revise the interest rates further.

"We do not have any plans," ICICI Bank CEO K V Kamath said in New Delhi on the sidelines of India Economic Forum when asked whether the bank has any plans for acquisition abroad.

The statement comes amidst State Bank of India making its intentions clear on acquiring a foreign bank. On interest rates, Kamath said he did not wish to speculate on the rates but said the bank's cost of borrowings were on the rise.

He said many factors have to be considered like energy prices and inflation, which has been over seven per cent since July.

Highlighting that deposit rates have started rising, he admitted that cost of borrowing is on the rise and we need to look at what is happening on the oil front. "We clearly see signs of cost of borrowings going up," he said, adding "oil will have a significant impact on the imported inflation."

Asked whether there would be further hike in interest rates, especially for the retail loan segment, Kamath said, "Let us wait for 2-4 weeks."