SBI can support loan growth, lower deposit growth not a challenge: Khara

Amid concerns over the continuing gap between deposit and loan growth, SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara on Friday said it is not posing any challenges for the country's largest lender as it is able to support the uptick in advances.

The bank is unwinding a part of its excess investments in government securities to arrange the required resources to support the loan growth, Khara told reporters here.

It can be noted that for nearly two years, the deposit growth is trailing the credit expansion for the banking system, and SBI has also been seeing the same trends in its business.

Some experts have been opining that this is due to flow of savings into higher yielding capital market alternatives, while some like SBI's own researchers also called the concerns a "statistical myth", saying the overall quantum of incremental deposits has been higher than advances since FY22.

Asked about how concerning the situation is at present, Khara said, "We are in a position to support our loan book growth wel