Citi sees 20 percent growth in India for next two years

Mumbai:Citigroup expects to boost its loans and deposits growth in India by about a fifth in each of the next two years, its India head Pramit Jhaverisaid, as the US bank enhances its focus on emerging markets.

The bank is "comfortable" with its asset quality in India and has not slowed down lending activity, Jhaveri said, amid concerns that a series of recent interest rate hikes would result in corporate and consumer loan defaults.

Citigroup global Chief Executive Vikram Pandit is trying to turn the bank around after the financial crisis by focusing on emerging markets, where economies are still growing relatively quickly.

[caption id="attachment_137533" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Citi is hoping to turn the bank around by focusing on emerging markets.Reuters"][/caption]

"India is amongst the top five or six emerging markets that is expected to contribute to this growth going forward," Jhaveri, a 24-year Citi veteran who became the head of its India operations last year, told the Reuters India Investment Summit.

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The bank, one of the top three foreign commercial banks in India along with Standard Chartered and HSBC, operates across businesses including corporate and investment banking, and wealth management in the country.

Reuters