Barclays has witnessed a rise in its impairment charges from ?147 million to ?213 million with marked increases in the retail segment, particularly in India and UAE, as a result of rising unemployment.
?That strategic objective underpins the investments that we have been making in India, Pakistan and Indonesia over the last two years. We remain strongly committed to the continuation of our international development strategy within global retail commercial banking, where the medium term growth characteristics of our selected markets are unchanged, although the scale and pace of future growth will of course be determined by our assessment of the economic conditions that prevail and the market opportunities that arise,? the bank said in a statement.
In the retail and commercial banking segment, the company has reported a loss before tax of 86 million pounds during the first half of 2009 from emerging markets including India.
In India, the bank has about 5,000 full-time employees including various businesses like investment banking and wealth management.