Fresh from raising close to US$1bn in aggregate from Additional Tier 1 bonds in the domestic and international markets, State Bank of India is confident that investor appetite for yield will allow it to fund its future growth requirements as credit demand looks set to pick up next year. "Today, investors are chasing high yields and the only market which is providing decent yields with relatively low credit risk is India," said C Venkat Nageswar, deputy managing director for global markets at India's largest public-sector bank. SBI is looking to issue another Rs40bn (US$597m) of ATI capital in the offshore rupee (Masala), US dollar or domestic bond markets, depending on market conditions and investor interest, Nageswar told IFR. While Masala AT1 plans are on hold pending "clear guidelines" from the Reserve Bank India, the bank has sold subordinated capital in dollars and onshore rupees in the third quarter - with the local market proving by far the more receptive.
展开▼
