State Bank of India has said that its rights issue could become a reality in two to three months.
“It will happen soon... another 2-3 months. We are in the final stages of discussion (with the Government)… amount is not finalised yet,” Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, SBI Chairman, said on the sidelines of a conference here on Public-Private Partnership in National Highways: Challenges & Opportunities.
The Centre has 59.4 per cent stake in SBI, which had last come out with a rights issue in 2008, raising over Rs 16,000 crore. In the previous rights issue, the Government had made its contribution through bonds instead of cash.
On his expectations of the RBI's mid-quarterly review on September 16, Mr Chaudhuri said that there could be interest rate hike as inflation was still not under control.
“It is for RBI to decide about the quantum of the rate hike,” he said. RBI has raised policy rates 11 times since March 2010 to tame inflation.