SBI says credit exposure to UAE less than Rs 1,500 cr

India's premier lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said its exposure to Dubai firms are insignificant and ruled out any cause of concern due to the debt crisis there.

"Our exposure to the UAE is less than Rs 1,500 crore, which is below 0.3 per cent of the total loan-book of the bank," a top SBI official told PTI here.

The bank's loan exposure to Dubai-based clients is largely in the form of short-term loans, which will be repaid in three to six months time, the official said.

"Bulk of our loans in the UAE are short-term and the rest medium-term. I do not think we will have any problems coming out of that region." he said.

SBI's nearest competitor, ICICI Bank, also said the bank did not have any significant exposure to Dubai corporates.

"ICICI Bank has no material, non-India linked exposure to Dubai corporates," an ICICI Bank spokesperson said.

Other private sector lenders, Axis Bank and Kotak, also said their exposures to the Gulf region was minimal.

After the realty crash, Dubai is now facing a debt crisis.

There are fears that Dubai's conglomerate and the Middle-East's largest realty firm, Dubai World, may default on its around $59 billion debt and is seeking postponing of the debt until at least May.