Liquidity no problem; FinMin guidance does not apply: SBI

Concerned over rising bad loans, finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday asked banks to focus on  top defaulters and take action against them.

Also Read: Take action against loan defaulters: Chidambaram to banks
In light of gross NPAs of PSU banks having risen from Rs 71,080 crore  as on March 2011, to Rs 1.55 lakh crore as on December 2012, Chidambaram further said he has asked banks to  review their lending rates. "Reduction in base rate will be a powerful stimulus to boost credit growth," he said  adding that unless the base rate is cut, interest rates cannot be brought  down.
In a response to the finance minister's comments, SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhri said that Chidamabaram's guidance to cut base rate did not apply to the bank.  "Liquidity is not a problem, we have reserves of Rs 50,000 crore and the bank is in position to merge a subsidiary at this point," he told CNBC-TV18.
Chaudhri added that a CRR cut by RBI would be welcome and the bank would take a view on recapitalisation in Q3FY14. (With inputs from PTI)