SBI to ramp up its retail business overseas

State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, plans to beef up its international business by increasing the share of retail segment in its overseas book.

The bank is planning to step up retail activity by raising resources and extending loans said SBI Deputy Managing Director P Chaudhuri. He was talking to reporters after signing a business cooperation pact with Italian bank Banca Popolare Di Vicenza here on Friday.

Overseas operations contribute about 90 per cent to the bank’s wholesale business (corporate segment). An SBI official said that the bank was planning to bring down the share of corporate\wholesale banking to 75 per cent.

“There is always a risk when a corporate customer withdraws large deposits and also moves business. In contrast, retail segment, which includes small businesses, is less volatile as the client base is large,” the official added.

The public sector bank is planning to raise the share of its international business in total business to 25 per cent by 2012. The key markets where the bank would work to increase retail business are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore. In the US, the subsidiary in California would drive business expansion, he added.