SBI prefers rights route to fund tap, says Bhatt
State Bank of India would prefer a rights issue to raise funds for business growth rather than diluting government holding, its Chairman O P Bhatt said on Wednesday.
“I want the government to continue to be the major stake holder in SBI... if there is an opportunity to raise capital quickly and efficiently, we would like to do that (rights issue)... it gives us a lot of flexibility in future,” he said.
However, he indicated that the bank is unlikely to go for the rights issue immediately as it has enough capital and good liquidity position.
SBI has a surplus liquidity of close to Rs 50,000-crore, against Rs 75,000-crore in December. “I keep saying that we have a five-year perspective. We do not need capital immediately because our capital adequacy ratio is now around 14 per cent,” he added.
