The State Bank of India, the country's largest lender by assets, has scrapped plans to raise funds this fiscal year, citing high bond yields despite the central bank's policy rate cut and liquidity boost, according to reports.
The bank had planned to raise up to Rs15,000 crore (about $1.7 billion) through bond sales by the end of March, but will now do so in the next fiscal year, which begins in April, according to sources.
"The bank has been waiting for an opportune time to enter the market, but yields have stayed high for the last several weeks, and hence the bank is avoiding tapping the market in the near term," one of the sources said.
Yields on India's 10-year corporate bonds rated 'AAA' have risen 15 basis points since early February, despite the central bank cutting the policy repo rate by 25 basis points and injecting significant liquidity into the banking system.
"SBI assessed its asset-liability position and despite having the board approvals, decided not to go through with the bond issues for now," accordding to source.
The bank will reassess its funding requirements in the coming fiscal year, according to the person.
SBI planned to issue Rs 5,000 crore of Basel III-compliant additional Tier-I perpetual bonds and Rs 10,000 crore of 15-year infrastructure bonds.
In October, the bank issued perpetual bonds worth Rs 5,000 crore at a 7.98 percent yield.
In February, its state-run peers Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra raised a total of Rs 7,252 crore through infrastructure bonds, slightly more than half of their original target.
