SBI’s gold loan portfolio crosses Rs 1 lakh crore, positioned to grow well, says chairman

State Bank of India’s gold loan portfolio is seeing good traction and has crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark last week, the lender’s chairman said on July 1.

“We are seeing a good traction in this (gold loan) segment in the current scenario,” Dinesh Kumar Khara said at a virtual event. “During inflationary conditions, gold is a preferred asset class. In the first quarter of this year (April-June) we saw decent traction, much better than in the same quarter of the last year. This segment is positioned to grow well.”

Khara did not elaborate on the targets of the bank in terms of the gold loan portfolio for this financial year. The bank has 24 percent market share in gold loans across the industry, he said.

When asked if there is any pain or stress in the portfolio, Khara said SBI’s non-performing assets in the gold loan segment were around 0.29 percent of the book. “We don’t see any pain; we will create good value for customers,” he said.