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Two Indian state-owned banks have paused fresh lending in the GCC countries and adopted a wait-and-watch stance amid the ongoing Iran conflict, according to a news report.
State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to take no new business in the GCC until there is some clarity on the situation, chairman CS Setty told Economic Times, an Indian financial daily on Monday.
He stated that the bank remains "cautious", although there is currently no direct impact on its business or asset quality due to the regional conflict.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) chief executive officer Ashok Chandra said the bank will not be taking any new exposure in the GCC region.
"We need to wait and see how things pan out," Chandra added.
SBI is the largest bank, and also the largest public sector bank in India by assets while PNB is the fourth largest bank.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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