SBI’s new chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara says loan restructuring manageable; lists out 3 priorities

State bank of India’s new chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara today said that the bank is very closely observing the number of loan restructuring requests and concluded that given the numbers and SBI’s loan books, restructuring is manageable. Dinesh Kumar Khara added that not too many corporates came for restructuring and it is manageable as well. Addressing the media today, the new SBI Chairman further said that his top priority is to maintain the safety of employees who are serving SBI’s customers, the safety of the bank’s customers, and maintain the quality of the loan book. 

Dinesh Kumar Khara added that his focus is to keep the quality of advances book good and robust and the bank’s name should stay protected. He further said that though certain segments have some concerns, the business of SBI has rebounded to somewhere around 70-80 per cent of the pre-Covid levels. 

Credit growth

Regarding the credit growth of the bank, Dinesh Kumar Khara said that the credit growth of the bank is near 6-7per cent and the retail credit growth is doing well. Citing reasons for slow corporate credit growth, he highlighted that businesses are not only going to the credit market, but also to the capital market. He said that the bank has to readjust to new realities and corporate desires.and has to meet the companies’ requirements through credit or investment. 

Annual hiring of SBI

On being asked about the hiring, Dinesh Kumar Khara said that the bank’s annual hiring will remain the same and the idea is to have a clear focus on building skills of employees, including analytical skills. Meanwhile, Dinesh Kumar Khara is one of the most experienced amongst the current MDs at SBI. He was overseeing the international banking, corporate banking & treasury operations of SBI and additionally also supervised the businesses of the subsidiaries. 

“Dinesh Kumar Khara’s appointment augurs well for the overall functioning and continuation of the business strategy that SBI has been pursuing over the past few years,” said Motilal Oswal, MD & CEO, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. While Dinesh Kumar Khara takes charge amidst significant macro uncertainty induced by COVID, we expect SBI to perform relatively well and deliver strong earnings traction under his leadership, he added.