State Bank of India plans up to $2 bn offshore borrowing

Mumbai: State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, plans to borrow $1 billion to $2 billion from the overseas market in the next three months, Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters on the sidelines of a banking event.

SBI doubled its overseas borrowing programme to $10 billion last year but poor market conditions have deterred it from making fundraising plans since.

Chaudhuri did not provide details of where the bank would raise funds, or the pricing.

The bank was downgraded by Moody\'s Investor Service last October because of its thin capital base and worsening asset quality.

The bank was downgraded by Moody's Investor Service last October because of its thin capital base and worsening asset quality.

The Indian government pumped in 79 billion rupees into the bank in March and higher profits helped it boost its capital adequacy ratio. The bank's asset quality has also improved due to greater stress on recoveries and early detection of bad loans, Chaudhuri added.

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