Higher salary, pesion to drain out Rs 26,000 crore from SBI coffer by March

MUMBAI: State Bank of India, which saw a sharp 35 per cent fall in its December quarter net profit due to a one-time expenditure towards increased salaries and pensions, said the burden will jump to around Rs 26,000 crore by March this year.

The country's largest lender on Saturday reported a steep decline of 35 per cent in its net income at Rs 9,164 crore during October-December 2023 compared to Rs 14,205 crore profit recorded in the corresponding period a year ago and Rs 14,330 crore earned in the preceding quarter.

The public sector lender attributed the fall in profit to the additional provision of Rs 7,100 crore made in the reporting quarter towards salaries and pensions arising out of the 17 per cent wage hike settlement reached with employee unions in November last year. The revises wages are effective from November 2022.