Barclays continues to be optimistic about its prospects in the country. This despite the fact that its experience as a commercial bank in India has not been favourable so far.
Marcus Agius, chairman of the UK-based lender, said he saw enormous potential in the country and wanted to see more growth here.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai on Wednesday, Agius said, “The external perspective of India in the rest of the world has been growing very rapidly and part of that is to do with the strength of the Indian economy.”
“Our business here is successful, and we want to see it grow,” he added.
Barclays launched its commercial banking services in India in November 2006. The lender followed it up with the launch of its retail services in May 2007 and sought to grow its credit cards and consumer loan portfolio aggressively. However, when the downturn hit home in the middle of 2008, the bank had to take massive write-downs.