Though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its financial stability report raised concerns on consumer credit slowing down in India in the first quarter of this fiscal, State Bank of India (SBI) seems to have bucked the trend by crossing the Rs 1 trillion-mark in gold loans last week and clinching 24% of the market share in this segment. 

“Though we entered the gold loan market as late as 2020, we have seen rapid progress and for the first time crossed Rs 1 lakh crore gold loan portfolio last week. We are targeting significant growth in the gold loan segment in the current fiscal as well. Invariably we have seen that during inflationary conditions, gold loan is one of the preferred asset classes,” said SBI chairman Dinesh Khara.

Retail, which grew 15% in FY22, continues to fuel the bank’s balance sheet expansion even as it eyes refinance opportunities. “Going by the way it has grown in the past, we expect that we should be in a position to ride the growth potential available in the retail segment," Khara told reporters, adding that the stress on the retail book excluding MSME is less than 1% for the bank.

Khara, however, did not give any growth numbers for the retail loan segments like housing, auto and personal.

The RBI’s report had flagged off concerns on retail credit amid data of restructured assets constituting 2.4% each of the total advances of both retail and MSME. It had also indicated a slowdown in the first quarter.

“Based on inquiry volumes, the demand for consumer credit, which was consistently trending upwards after the second wave of the pandemic, has moderated in Q1 of 2022-23,” RBI had said in its biannual Financial Stability Report.

Khara said there are growth opportunities in the corporate, SME and international book as well. 

The lender on Friday announced a host of retail services including a new variant of pre-approved loans and API banking for corporates and aggregators.

On its foundation day, the bank announced the launch of banking services on WhatsApp and a new segment for managing assets above Rs 20 lakh.

The lender currently has Rs 1 lakh crore of assets under management (AUM) in the wealth management segment.