MUMBAI: Country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) crossed the Rs trillion mark in gold loans last week and expects the segment to see significant growth in the current financial year, chairman Dinesh Khara said on Friday.
“In Gold Loan we are seeing a good traction in the current year and I would like to draw your attention to a very important point. We have always observed that during inflationary conditions Sleep It is one of the preferred asset classes and that means there is traction for gold loans as well,” said Khara, adding that the bank has a 24% market share in gold loans.
Khara said that in the first quarter of FY23, SBI saw good traction in gold loans and witnessed better growth as compared to the same period in the past. “I am hopeful that in the current year (FY23) we will be in a position to grow well in this segment,” he said.
On retail credit growth, Khara said it continues to be an important engine for the public sector lender. “The way it has evolved in the past, we expect to be in a position to ride the growth potential available in retail,” he said.
However, this does not mean that other opportunities are not available in terms of asset growth, he said, adding that there is demand in corporates, small businesses and also in the international book.
Meanwhile, the bank on Friday announced a slew of services including a new type of pre-approved loans and Application Programming Interface (API) banking for corporates and aggregators.