HSBC to maintain 5% stake in Axis Bank

HSBC today said it would maintain its five per cent stake in the country's third largest private sector lender Axis Bank in the short term.

"It is portfolio investment. We would maintain our stake in the Axis Bank," HSBC Country Head Naina Lal Kidwai told reporters here.

The government has 27 per cent stake in the bank through Specified Undertaking of UTI.

There were reports that government plans to exit by selling 21 per cent stake through qualified institutional investment.

Speaking about interest rate Kidwai said outlook on rates remains flat. Even now credit offtake seems to be strong.