State Bank of India to issue more retail bonds

Mumbai, Oct 16 (ANI): The State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman O P Bhatt has said that he bank is aiming to issue retail bonds worth five billion rupees.

"State Bank has been talking about issue of retail bonds for quite some time. We believe that the investment opportunities that the Indian consumer, especially the customers of bank have, are limited and this range needs to be increased. So, this is a product, which we think fulfils that need to a considerable extent," said Bhatt.

Bhatt also said that the Bank is in need of growth capital all the time. If this step is successful, they may come out with such offerings every quarter or every month.

"The indication that we have as of now is that the issue is going to be successful. Going forward, there are a few things that we intend to do. One of the things is to create a secondary market for this issue so that exit becomes easy and price discovery takes place," he added.

The bonds will be open for subscription from October 18 and will close on October 25.

The bonds would be issued in two series- series-1 and series-2 having maturity of ten years and fifteen years respectively, with a face value of Rs. 10,000 each.

These bonds are not redeemable at the option of the bondholder or without the prior consent of Reserve Bank of India. (ANI)