Comfortable with liquidity situation: ICICI Bank chief

Amid pressure on liquidity, India's largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, has said that it is very comfortable as its reliance on wholesale deposits has come down substantially.

"We have diversified our funding base. Our reliance on wholesale deposits has come down substantially. We are very comfortable as far as liquidity is concerned," ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar said here after inaugurating the bank's CSR initiative in Jaipur on Friday.

Talking about credit growth in the banking system, she said overall credit demand has been very positive. It has been over 18 per cent, she added.

Credit growth is mainly coming from steady and healthy demand from the retail segment including housing and auto, she said. She said that the demand will pick up pace going forward as rural demand firms up.

Monsoon has been good this year which will drive rural demand and there will be a pick-up in the rural credit in the second half of the current fiscal year, Ms Kochhar said.

"Demand and consumption from rural areas will get a boost on the back of a good monsoon. Villages and semi-urban areas will be the next centre for growth," she said.

On the macroeconomic situation, Ms Kochhar said the government has taken several initiatives and benefits of these would be seen in a few months with economic growth likely to pick up from here onwards.

The government took many decisions, including steps to restart stalled infrastructure projects, so as to stimulate economy, she said.

"I think bottom should be done with. From here on, it should start going up," she said.

Talking about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, she said, ICICI Bank has opened a skill training academy in Jaipur to provide vocational training to youth from economically weaker sections of the society. Apart from Jaipur, skill development centres would be set up in Coimbatore, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc. through the ICICI Foundation.

"The launch marks the next step in our strategy to promote inclusive growth in India, ...train 5,000 youth at 9 training centres across the country in the first year of operation," she said.

She further said the academy aims to train 15,000 youth across the country by 2016.