Financial Times

SBI to expand branches, offer new products
By Duruthu Edirimuni
The State Bank of India (SBI), the Indian subcontinent's largest financial institution, plans to expand aggressively in the island, opening up branches and offering new products, including credit cards, said its chairman A.K. Purwar.

Purwar, who was here to facilitate plans to expand SBI's branch network and product range and meet with government officials, said political instability should not deter trade in Sri Lanka.

He saw the current political situation as a non-deterrent to the financial activity in terms of trade. "They are two different things," he said in an interview.

"We are expanding in Asia and particularly in neighbouring countries and we see Sri Lanka as a potential hub for banking activities," he said. The SBI Chief said that the bank will be opening a branch in Kandy and a couple more in Colombo.

SBI is also looking at introducing credit cards. Purwar said that they see an edge in Sri Lanka for credit cards as SBI is affiliated with the GE Capital, a global financial service provider.

He said that SBI credit cards had seen a fast growth rate during the past three years and have been competing successfully with its foreign competition.

Purwar said that in India SBI is already in the process of adopting Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) in accounting, and is leveraging technology for enhancing efficiency and profitability.

He said technology was the key driver of change and said that SBI is planning to computerise all its branches by 2004 in India and is also revamping its Sri Lankan office. "We are computerising and improving customer delivery channels in Sri Lanka," he said.

SBI has a nationwide presence of 13,500 branches in India and 52 offices in 28 countries. SBI has offices in US, and Canada where they serve a large non-resident Indian (NRI) client base.

Commenting on Indian Premier A.B. Vajpayee's suggestion that South Asia should consider a common currency such as the Euro, Purwar said it will be central to the realisation of a South Asia in which people, services, capital and goods can move freely.

He said that a common South Asian market will increase economic prosperity and contribute to an ever closer union among the people of Asia.

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