No immediate plans to raise capital: SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara

SBI chairman said that the bank does not have immediate plans to raise capital as a reasonable profit of the last fiscal would be ploughed back to take care of foreseeable business growth

SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said that the bank does not have immediate plans to raise capital as a reasonable profit of the last fiscal would be ploughed back to take care of foreseeable business growth.

"We had raised Tier I and Tier II bonds earlier. Considering the growth we had seen last year, we are having a comfortable capital adequacy ratio," he told PTI in an interview.

As regards the current year, he said the bank has enough resources to take care of the business growth.

"This year, as of now we are hoping we will have a reasonable plow back of profit to take care of foreseeable growth of assets," said the SBI chief.

However, he added, the bank would continue to monitor the situation, and "as and when we feel there is a need for raising capital, we will certainly go to the market and raise the fund. As of now, plans in that direction have not been finalised."

He also said that the bank will try to keep the interest rates benign as long as possible with a view to supporting economic growth.

The country's largest lender, SBI last week reduced the home loan interest rate to 6.70 per cent.

Borrowers can get home loans starting from 6.70 per cent for loans up to Rs 30 lakh and 6.95 per cent for loans above Rs 30 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. The interest rate on home loans above Rs 75 lakh is 7.05 per cent.

The lender commands over 34 per cent market share in home loans. Its home loan portfolio has crossed the milestone of Rs 5 lakh crore.

On the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on non-performing assets of the bank, Khara said that as the lockdown was not pan-India, one will have to wait and watch to assess its impact on the banking sector.

Observing that multiple variables including inflation have a bearing on the interest rates, he said, "our effort is to support the growth initiatives. To really ensure that happens, we will try to keep the soft interest rate regime for as long as possible.