O P Bhatt replaces A K Purwar who retired as chairman of the country's largest commercial bank on May 31 this year.\n\n
ndia's inflation rate would slow down to between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent by March 2011, State Bank of Indiachairman O P Bhatt said here on Thursday.
Country's largest lender, State Bank of India, on Wednesday said it does not plan any hike in its lending or deposit rates in the near-term as the liquidity situation was evolving in the right direction.
An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court said it cannot conclude any regulatory failure around Adani Group's stock rallies, and that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has 'drawn a blank' in its probe into alleged violations in money flows from offshore entities into the conglomerate.
In FY23, the State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 57.4 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 55,684.17 crore. But the chairman of the country's largest bank, Dinesh Khara's annual pay for this creditable performance was just Rs 37 lakh (his peers at state-run banks are no better off). Look at his private bank rivals - most pocketed in excess of Rs 7 crore annually - plus stock options.
With the addition of these two directors, the total Board strength of the company increases to 14 which include seven independent directors, including O P Bhatt, Tata Consultancy Services said.
Insiders say some issues that demand immediate attention include improving asset quality and conservation of capital.
Sharp increase is a major departure from those during former chairman O P Bhatt's regime.
Unlike any other business, banking is a turf where the captain's role is the most critical. Often a bank is defined by the personality of the CEO who runs it. Both HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the creation of their CEOs, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Chaudhuri succeeds managing director R Sridharan, who was the acting chairman after O P Bhatt retired on March 31.
SBI's home loans, which offer a lower interest rate in the initial years and rate increases in the later years, were termed teaser loans by the Reserve Bank of India.
Bank will charge floating rates of interest from January.
Liquidity pressures to top agenda of RBI's meeting with bankers.
The RBI has been tightening key benchmark rates since November last year as the country started recovering from the impact of the global economic slowdown.
State Bank of India (SBI) has put on the backburner its plan to acquire a stake in Tata Motors Finance, following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) objection.
State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman O P Bhatt said the bank might raise deposit rates next week, at least by 50 basis points. However, he ruled out any increase in the base rate or the benchmark prime lending rate in December.
RBI on Tuesday took steps to discourage teaser loan rate schemes, which have a fixed component initially before becoming floating, in order to rein in 'loose practices in pricing of risks in the housing sector'.
State Bank of India is open to overseas acquisitions in case there is synergy in businesses.
Country's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday said it will extend its 8 per cent concessional home loan scheme, popularly called teaser rates, by another 3 months till December.
As against an allocated Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), subscription by retail investors stood at Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion), while an additional subscription of nearly Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) came from other investors, including high net-worth individuals.
State Bank of India Chairman O P Bhatt says the bank did differ with the Reserve Bank of India's views on a host of issues, but it was unfair to blame the country's largest bank for taking care of the interests of the aam aadmi (common man).
Stung by the public criticism of teaser rates, SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told RBI officials in a post-monetary policy meeting on Friday that only eligible persons are given these loans and the norms are not diluted while extending such loans.
Cost of home, auto and corporate loans may not go up immediately, even though the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday raised short-term key policy rates by 25 basis points to check high inflation, bankers said.
The State Bank of India on Friday launched a defence salary package for the Indian Air Force with an array of concessional services such as zero balance accounts, interest rate concessions on loans, preferential allotment of lockers and free mobile banking.
SBI is among the few lenders who have not increased their base rates after the Reserve Bank of India's mid quarter policy review on September 16.
He said money supply is under pressure, but interest rates will remain stable in immediate future.
As per the Budget estimate, net borrowing by the government in the current fiscal is pegged at a whopping Rs 3,97,957.47 crore (Rs 3,979.57 billion) to fund its widening fiscal deficit projected at 6.8 per cent of GDP this fiscal due to a slew of measures taken to boost the economy, which is facing the impact of financial meltdown.
Most of the public sector lenders, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank, have hiked their lending rates after the Reserve Bank of India increased its short-term lending (repo) and borrowing (reverse-repo) rates by up to 50 basis points on July 27.
The government has set a growth target of 20 per cent for banks both in the credit and deposit segments in the current fiscal.
The fund house has proposed the government allow those investing up to a specified amount, to contribute on a monthly basis without submitting PAN, which is a must for all mutual fund investments. SBI MF is hoping to get around 250,000 investors to invest in 'Chota SIP.' The product aimed at the lower income group, the subscription level could rise to 1 million if the PAN requirement was done away with.
Terming the timing of monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank as 'a bit of a surprise', country's largest bank SBI today said the apex bank may further hike its key rates in the annual monetary policy on April 20, if inflation remains high in March as well.
The country's largest lender SBI on Wednesday said it does not see interest rates rising till Diwali this year and ruled out any immediate plans of rights issue offer.
"We hope to start general insurance operations before the end of the current fiscal. We already have got stage one approval from IRDA," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters in New Delhi.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday had a breakfast meeting with top honchos of India Inc at the iconic, sea-facing Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Amongst those from India Inc who were present at the meeting included Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group and Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani. Others present were the chiefs of India's two largest banks, O P Bhatt of State Bank and Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, Swati Piramal and Sudha Murthy.
Commenting on the proposed fiscal stimulus package that the government intends to announce tomorrow, Bhatt said, although there is no threat of recession in the country, growth is slowing. This package will help increase liquidity and encourage consumption behaviour.
This will be second such merger of State Bank of India's associate banks.
Though the economy is recovering, the non-performing assets (NPAs) may rise further because the asset quality will improve only with a lag effect, says O P Bhatt.
An increased level of 'stressed assets' in the banking system could push up the NPA levels of banks, State Bank of India's chairman O P Bhatt, told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci-IBA organised banking seminar on Thursday.
State Bank of India's chairman O P Bhatt on Monday said that interest rates are likely to go up in the coming months if the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightens its monetary stance.
The meeting was also attended by State Bank of India Chairman O P Bhatt and Indian Banks Association and Bank of India Chairman T S Narayanaswami.
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