SBI Shelves Bond Issuance Plans for Current Fiscal

State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to defer its plan to raise ₹15,000 crore through bond issuance in the current fiscal year (ending March).

Reason for Deferral

• High bond yields despite
  • A 25 bps policy repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  • Significant liquidity infusion by the RBI
• Yields on AAA-rated 10-year corporate bonds have risen by 15 basis points since early February.

Planned Fundraising

• Originally intended to raise
  • ₹5,000 crore via Basel III-compliant additional Tier-I perpetual bonds
  • ₹10,000 crore via 15-year infrastructure bonds

Current Decision

• SBI has:
  • Assessed its asset-liability position
  • Chosen to postpone fundraising to the next fiscal year (starting April)
• The bank will reassess funding needs at that time.

Source: BL