SBI plans public issue in current fiscal

19 Apr 2007

Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) will come out with a follow-on public offer this fiscal to raise funds. The bank, however, did not specify the timing of the issue.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a bankers'' meet with finance minister P Chidambaram, O.P.Bhat, chairman of the bank, merely said the bank would come out with the issue "some time this fiscal.''''

SBI had earlier said it was planning to offload about five per cent of promoter''s stake to raise its capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

Currently, RBI holds 59.73 per cent stake in SBI, which the government intends to purchase toward the close of June.

While there is enough liquidity in the system, SBI, he said, is planning to curtail its credit growth by about three per cent this fiscal as per directions from the finance ministry.

"We are looking at 25 per cent credit growth this financial year against 28 per cent last fiscal,'''' he said, adding, credit growth in the industry was moving down. ''''I am sure we will have more moderation this fiscal.''''

He also ruled out a further hardening of interest rate, which have nearly.