State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, expects to sustain its current pace of credit growth while aiming to keep its net non-performing asset ratio below 1%, its top executive said on Wednesday.After announcing results for the June-September quarter earlier this month, the bank said it expects credit growth of 14%-16% for the current financial year as it steps up efforts to attract deposits.
According to the latest central bank data, as of Nov. 4 Indian banks recorded credit growth of around 17% overall, while deposit growth stood at 8.25%.”So long as the risk is understood and priced well, there is no challenge (in sustaining loan growth),” SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara told reporters.”This time the growth is coming at a time when corporates are deleveraged. That also gives us the confidence that the path we are treading is sustainable.
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“SBI has a term loan pipeline of 2.5 trillion rupees ($30.6 billion) and expects demand from all sectors, Khara said. The lender’s net non-performing asset (NPA) ratio fell to 0.8% in the June-September quarter. Khara said the bank hoped to further reduce bad loans, and keep the ratio below 1% going forward.