The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, has said that there will be no hike in lending rates in the next six months as there is surplus liquidity in the market.
In the recent past, the country's largest bank has been aggressive in cutting the lending rates, especially for those buying homes and cars. It is extending both these loans at eight per cent interest per annum. Earlier this week, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata that he was against a tight money policy.
The bank plans to scale up presence in UK by setting up 5 new offices in the next one year, starting with one in November, Bhatt said. Presently, SBI has seven branches in UK.
While inflation has stayed in the negative territory for past several weeks, analysts are wondering whether the interest rates have bottomed out with signs of economic recovery.
Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra are promoted by Raju's family and have interests in realty and construction. Noting that there is no problem with the Maytas accounts, Bhatt said all the exposure are collateralised and accounts are regular.
Soon after RBI's decision, three banks namely Yes Bank, HDFC Bank and Union Bank reduced the benchmark prime lending rate by 50 basis point each. SBI had last month slashed benchmark prime lending rate by 75 basis points to 13 per cent.
State Bank of India Chairman O P Bhatt on Sunday said the country's largest lender will take a call on revising interest rates in the second half of the week.
Bankers said on Friday interest rates are likely to be stable in the short term as the liquidity position in the country is comfortable. "Interest rates look stable for the time being... at least till April," O P Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India, told reporters on the sidelines of Finance Minister P Chidambaram's meeting with bankers in New Delhi.
In what could be the country's biggest rights issue, State Bank of India has approached the government for permission to raise Rs 20,000 crore during the current financial year to finance its expansion.
State Bank of India, India's largest lender, may cut interest rates in the new financial year on the back of a lower-than-expected credit growth.
The bookings for Rs 1 lakh Nano car by the Tata Motors are pouring in from all parts of the country as the sole booking agent SBI said it has distributed lakhs of applications for the world's cheapest car.
Public sector lenders led by State Bank of India said on Monday that they will look at further interest rate cuts.SBI chairman O P Bhatt told reporters after a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the bank is considering cutting its prime lending rate for the second time in as many months.
On the extent of cut in lending rates, the SBI chief said 'it is difficult to say at this point of time' but indicated that it would not be less than 25 basis points. SBI earlier reduced the benchmark PLR by 75 basis points to 12.25 per cent with effect from January 1. Bhatt is in the capital to attend a meeting of state-owned bankers called by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also holding the finance portfolio.
The RBI, had, earlier in the day, hiked CRR by 0.75 per cent in two tranches, a move, it said, would help flush-out Rs 36,000 crore (Rs 360 billion) from the system.
Several PSU lenders, including Canara Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, Syndicate Bank, have already slashed their benchmark prime lending rates by 0.75 per cent after Finance Minister P Chidambaram met state-owned banks' heads to discuss the possibility of rate cuts.
"We are still examining the market condition and will take a view on home loan rates in another week or 10 days," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters. SBI had increased its PLR by 50 basis points to 12.75 per cent last week. Following the hike in lending rates, the bank also increased deposits rates for various maturities.
Speaking at a function at Ghaziabad on Monday, State Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director O P Bhatt said the bank has decided to raise the interest rate by 0.5 per cent on all loans such as home loans and auto loans which are linked to PLR. The revision in PLR came after SBI raised its PLR from 12.25 per cent to 12.75 per cent last week following Reserve Bank's increasing its key short-term lending rate to banks.
The State Bank of India (SBI) is setting up a Rs 500-crore (Rs 5 billion) private equity (PE) fund to cater to the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.
SBI is keen on big overseas acquisitions that will give it a 'strategic fit' along with new products and access to cheaper capital. SBI is not keen on small foreign banks worth a few millions, chairman O P Bhatt said.
SBI said it could give discount to new housing credit seekers and might cut home loan rates. SBI is currently offering home loans at 12.75 per cent on fixed interest rate basis. The floating interest rate ranges between 10.75-11.25 per cent.
The risk of non-performing assets, challenges of the knowledge economy and need for scale in the banking sector are issues needing immediate attention as India moves to a higher growth trajectory, he said.
The country's largest public sector lender State Bank of India on Thursday said that it does not expect the interest rates to go up in the short term.
A host of public sector banks had cut interest rates in the earlier part of this year following an advisory from Finance Minister P Chidambaram in January. Private and smaller state-owned banks, however, did not cut rates.
RBI will not follow US Federal Reserve's cue of cutting rates, as Indian conditions differ greatly from US.
Faced with an increase in defaults on home loans, banks are beginning to feel the 'bite' after growing their portfolios at breakneck pace in the last three years, according to State Bank of India Chairman O P Bhatt.
The State Bank of India said on Monday it would launch a gold exchange traded fund in 2008. "We are examining this product in our mutual fund company and we are hopeful we should be able to come out with an ETF next year," O P Bhatt, SBI chairman said at a conference in Mumbai.
State Bank of India and Canara Bank said on Thursday interest rates are expected to remain soft and stable in the near future as inflation is down and there is ample liquidity with the banks. "Interest rates are expected to remain stable to down," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters before participating in a meeting of bankers and exporters with Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.
Do you think company head honchos who slog all the time are very difficult to handle? Do they put a lot of stress on their subordinates' minds?
The country's largest commercial bank State Bank of India is likely to go for stake sale by December as a part of its efforts to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) in the next three years.
The State Bank of India on Wednesday became the first Indian bank to begin full-fledged operation in China.
State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, on Monday cautioned against rising debt in housing loans and said this could lead to an asset bubble in the real estate sector.
Interest rates are seen remaining stable in the short term. Chairmen of State Bank of India, the country's largest bank, and Industrial Development Bank of India said they saw no pressure to raise interest rates for now.
Workaholic CEOs find their job appealing, but their subordinates find that appalling.
In a massive push for cashless transaction, State Bank of India, the country's largest bank, plans to increase the number of its ATMs by over three times to 25,000 in the next three years.
Barring stray references such as the 'dual control' of banks and shifting the goalposts during demonetisation, he is not in a fault-finding mode with the government, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
A teaser loan is one where the lender offers a slightly lower rate in the initial years and then charges higher rates in later years.
After a sharp sell-off in the past two months, overseas investors were once again seen turning bullish on Indian equities. FIIs bought shares worth Rs 63.5 billion in the past five sessions, their highest weekly investment tally in many months.
Five of the 10 best-paid independent directors belonged to the Tata group, followed by four from Reliance Industries and one from Wipro.
B Sriram, the senior-most managing director at SBI, along with fellow MDs Rajnish Kumar, P K Gupta, and Dinesh Kumar Khara had been interviewed for the post
SBI asked RBI to allow lenders sell loans below the base rates.
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