Spreads

The public sector banks' average was weighed down by the State Bank of India (SBI) yield on advances, which was only 12.3 per cent. On investments, SBI had an average yield of 12.9 per cent, compared with the public sector average of 10.9 per cent.

Private banks averaged 11.8 per cent, while the foreign banks averaged 13 per cent. Fortunately for the public sector banks, its average cost of funds was 7.9 per cent compared with 8.3 per cent for private banks and 9.3 per cent for foreign banks.