Excess liquidity to remain a concern: SBI chief
By IANSSunday, January 31, 2010
BAHARAMPUR - The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) sees excess liquidity to be a concern for the bank over the next two quarters, a top official said here Sunday.
“Every month we receive Rs.12,000 crore of deposits, of which Rs.7,000 crore comes as fixed deposit and Rs.5,000 crore as savings and our monthly credit growth is not upto that level,” SBI chairman O.P. Bhatt said at a press conference at Baharampur in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
Hence, every month the bank receives more money as deposits than it gives out as credit, which adds to its idle fund.
The bank had surplus liquidity of Rs.75,000 crore till December and by March it plans to bring it down by about Rs.20,000 crore by shedding some bulk deposits.
Bhatt was in Murshidabad Sunday to attend an event organised by SBI to mark its coverage of the 100,000th un-banked village at Sannyasidanga and inauguration of the group’s 20,000th ATM at Barala.
Bhatt said SBI is yet to take a decision on lending rates of various schemes.
“Interest rates of most of our schemes are fixed till March 31 and we would make a review in the middle of that month,” he said.
SBI plans to recruit 22,000-23,000 staff in 2010-11 compared to 27,000 taken in 2009-10.
The bank’s credit growth till December was 17 percent and it hopes to touch the 18 percent target by March-end, which was earlier set by RBI, Bhatt said.
