Bank Of India: Credit & Deposit To Grow 20-25 Pct In FY13

State Bank of India, the country’s top lender, expects credit and deposits to grow 20-25 percent in the fiscal year ending in March 2013, A. Krishna Kumar, managing director and group executive for national banking, said on Saturday.
The bank’s deposits grew by 14 percent, while credit rose 16 percent in the last financial year, Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters.

Deposit growth at Indian banks fell short of the central bank’s projection for fiscal 2011/12 that ended in March amid an acute liquidity crunch as customers withdrew funds in response to rising inflation.

Cash conditions tightened sharply as the public withdrew deposits from banks to stay liquid and also on aggressive intervention on the foreign exchange market from the central bank to shore up the rupee.

SBI plans to cut lending rates to small and medium enterprises will not depend on the central bank’s policy decisions, Kumar said. The Reserve Bank of India holds a policy review on April 17, Reuters reported.