Kolkata, Sep 16 (KNN) Country’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI)  looks to grow loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by at least 10-12% this year with gradual improvement of their order book position and cash flows.

"We have moved to cash flow based financing from balance sheet based funding," said ​ Rajnish Kumar, Managing Director, SBI, who was in the town to attend board of directors meeting.

Last fiscal, SBI's SME lending did not grow at all as the sluggish economy had impacted their financials negatively.

He said, "With improving of their cash flows, we see 10-12% loan growth very much feasible this fiscal. Although, internally, we would like to aim for 14-15% growth,"

Kumar stated that about half of SBI's Rs 2 lakh crore SME portfolio today doesn't depend on their balance sheet strength.

“SBI is also focusing on supply-chain financing and receivable-based funding. The lender has set a target of 13-14% for overall loan growth though it does not see much optimism around the corporate sector,” he added.