SINGAPORE (Standard&Poor's) April 29, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it assigned its 'BB' long-term foreign currency counterparty credit ratings to India's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI). The outlook is stable. SBI's short-term foreign currency counterparty credit rating of 'B' is affirmed. At the same time, Standard&Poor's assigned its 'BB+/B' long-term and short-term local currency counterparty credit ratings to SBI, with a negative outlook. These ratings remain constrained by the sovereign ratings on the Republic of India (foreign currency BB/Stable/B; local currency BB+/Negative/B). The ratings on SBI acknowledge the bank's strong business profile, underpinned by its position as India's largest commercial bank. The bank's strategy and corporate vision to be the leading
