State Bank of India (SBI) plans to raise overseas debt of $5 billion this fiscal through the medium term note (MTN) route. The timing and the number of tranches for the fund-raising will depend largely on credit growth in the domestic market, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, SBI, said.
“Right now we have a total objective of $5 billion. But we would like to time the market. If there is demand for assets, we will go and raise the money,” Mr Chaudhuri told newspersons on the sidelines of a meeting convened by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, with chief executives of state-owned banks.
SBI could tap the overseas markets for the MTN transaction in the second or third quarter of this fiscal, Mr Chaudhuri said. In May, he had said that the bank was looking to raise offshore debt of $ 3-4 billion in 2011-12.
Mr Chaudhuri also 0said that SBI will not finance realty projects that are mired in land acquisition disputes.